Normally when someone is caught in a blatant violation of the rules and they are given the option to cease or be punished, the choice would seem an obvious one. For those leading the IRS it would seem that they are loathe to cease their discriminating behavior. On Friday, the District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously reversed a lower court ruling now allowing those conservative groups who were targeted by the IRS to continue their suit against the agency.

The court found that the IRS had committed “unconstitutional acts against at least a portion of the plaintiffs … [who] were subjected to extended delay” and “were not receiving the same processing as those of other organizations.” The court added that it was “absurd” for the IRS to suggest that they had eradicated the behavior “when two of the appellant-plaintiffs’ applications remain pending.”

Upon hearing the ruling, True the Vote, Inc., one of the plaintiffs in the case, said it “welcomed the ruling as a positive step toward justice after its First Amendment rights were violated by the IRS, dating back to 2010.” This ruling is separate from the Justice Department’s investigation that ended in October of last year, with no charges brought against the IRS. At least some avenue for justice is still available for those who were targeted by the IRS, but at the same time, the institutional corruption is going to be extremely difficult to eradicate.