(RNS) A federal appeals court has rejected the claims of families who wanted the unidentified remains of relatives killed in the 9/11 attacks to be given a proper burial according to their religious beliefs.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday (Dec. 23) against a group called World Trade Center Families for a Proper Burial, which sued New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials.

The families had sought the burial of the residue from the debris of the World Trade Center, located at the city’s Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island, in a cemetery.

The suit turned in part on a novel legal claim: that the families’ inability to bury their loved ones according to the tenets of their faith violated their First Amendment right of free religious exercise.

The families appealed a lower court decision, arguing it wrongly concluded their First Amendment rights had not been violated. The judges of the higher court upheld the lower court ruling against the families, agreeing city officials “did not target religious beliefs” in their recovery procedures.

“On a human level, plaintiffs’ claims are among the most compelling we have ever been called on to consider,” the appellate ruling reads. “They have endured unimaginable anguish, and they seek nothing more than the knowledge that their loved ones lie in rest at a place of their choosing. We regret that we cannot bring them solace …”