Connecticut Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Connecticut law (Conn. Gen. Stat. §52-571b) prohibits the state from burdening a person’s freedom of religion under Article 1, Section 3 of the constitution even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability unless the state demonstrates that application of the burden to the person is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest, and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.

The law states that a person whose religious freedom has been burdened in violation of the law may assert that violation as a claim or defense in a judicial, administrative, or other proceeding and obtain appropriate relief against the state or a political subdivision of the state.

The law does not allow religious freedom to be raised as a defense in lawsuits between private citizens and therefore tracks the federal RFRA.