Most of the U.S. federal courts of appeal have adopted a rule under which, in the event of any conflict in decisions of panels (most of the courts of appeal almost always sit in panels of three), the earlier panel decision is controlling, and a panel decision may only be overruled by the court of appeals sitting "en banc" (that is, all active judges of the court) or by a higher court. In these courts, the older decision remains controlling when an issue comes up the third time.