RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court refused Monday to revive a lawsuit by 11 Virginia inmates who claim prisoners convicted of violent offenses are being illegally denied parole.

In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the inmates’ allegation that the Virginia Parole Board has failed to give fair and meaningful consideration to the approximately 6,000 prisoners who remain eligible for early release because they were convicted before parole was abolished in 1995.