Lawsuits Over I.R.S. Targeting Are Dismissed

NYT

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed two lawsuits against the Internal Revenue Service related to the agency’s treatment of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, ruling that no remedy was necessary because the groups’ applications were ultimately approved.

“The allegedly unconstitutional governmental conduct, which delayed the processing of the plaintiff’s tax-exempt application and brought about this litigation, is no longer impacting the plaintiff,” Judge Reggie B. Walton, of the United States District Court in the District of Columbia, wrote in a 23-page decision. He was referring to the lead plaintiff, True the Vote, a Tea Party-affiliated group.

“Unless an actual, ongoing controversy exists in this case, this court is without power to decide it,” Judge Walton added.

The I.R.S. has acknowledged that it acted improperly when it held up tax-exempt applications from True the Vote and dozens of other conservative-leaning groups in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, using search terms like “Tea Party,” “Patriot” and “9/12.”

(More here.)