The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided Friday against federal court intervention in a challenge implicating the New York state court system’s handling of certain surrogate’s court guardianship proceedings for failing to provide vulnerable people with proper protections.

The panel of Circuit Judges José Cabranes, Gerard Lynch and Denny Chin opted to uphold the decision by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York to abstain in the suit. Brought by Disability Rights New York against the state court system, the litigation sought federal intervention to address the alleged constitutional violations faced by two different groups in New York Surrogate’s Courts.