Cassell v. Snyders (U.S.C.A. 7th Circuit, 2020)

At issue in this case is a church invoking the Free Exercise Clause and Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act (ILRFRA) to seek a full exemption from a State coronavirus public-health order that equally limits similarly situated religious and secular communal gatherings to 10 people or less. In rejecting these claims, the legal brief joined by ADL asserts that the order is fully consistent with all Free Exercise Clause standards and does not violate the ILRFRA because it is the best way to advance Illinois’s compelling interest in protecting residents from a deadly disease.