On August 20, 1997, WLF filed a brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit urging it to overturn a lower court decision dismissing a challenge by a group of students who were forced to fund Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) at Lane Community College. WLF argued that compelling the students to subsidize a political and ideological group with which they disagree violates the First Amendment rights of the objecting students. OSPIRG is just one of many PIRG groups that operate on campuses across the country. All students are forced to pay a portion of their student fees to these campus PIRG groups, although a few universities allow students to receive a refund of that portion of their fees earmarked for PIRG if they so request through a cumbersome procedure.