In "Pierce v. Society of Sisters", a state statute required all parents to send their children to public schools. A private and a parochial school brought suit to enjoin enforcement of the act on the ground that it violated the constitutional rights of parents and guardians. No parent or guardian to whom the act applied was a party or before the Court. The Court nonetheless held that the statute was unconstitutional because it "unreasonably interferes with the liberty of parents and guardians to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control." The schools were thus permitted to assert in defense of their property rights the constitutional rights of the parents and guardians.