When Legal Reform Wrongs Rights-HoldersWhen Legal Reform Wrongs Rights-HoldersC. M. Melenovsky

Beyond legal claims, laws also establish moral claims. For example, laws that entitle a person to social security benefits at age 65 might also create a moral claim to these benefits. A government that refused to grant these benefits would not only violate the law but also wrong the entitled person. While recognizing such a moral claim would respect planning interests in a complex social world, it might create an objection to otherwise justified reforms. We might be forced to choose between wronging a right-holder or forgoing just reforms. To overcome this challenge, this article argues that we have a moral claim to what the law entitles us, but it is a provisional claim. When the reform that changes our legal rights makes a more just world, we have no claim to what the old laws entitled us.