Next Step in Affirmative Action Case: Full Appeals Court

Lawyers for Abigail Fisher on Tuesday filed an appeal in her suit challenging the way the University of Texas at Austin considers race in admissions. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in a 2-1 ruling, this month rejected Fisher's challenge. Her lawyers could have appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has already considered her claims once, sending the case back to the lower court for review.

But her lawyers instead have asked the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to consider the appeal. Regardless of what happens there, most legal observers expect that the case will before too long return to the Supreme Court.