have a right to

Idioms  

1. Have a just or legal claim on something or on some action, as in The accused has a right to legal counsel. The related have the right to is often used with infinitives, as in You have the right to remain silent. [Late 1300s] The antonym, dating from the mid-1600s, is have no right to, as in He has no right to push you aside. Also see in the right.

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Example Sentences

“It’s on the basis of the claim that they did that all kinds of things happen. People are displaced. There’s a money flow. I mean, it’s a big question. A lot hangs on this. It’s not some theoretical thing. It’s like, No, no, we have a right to be here because my ancestors were here. OK, how do we know they were here?”

From Slate

“Don’t we have a right to know? If he’s running from something, it will catch up to him. You can’t hide from a rumpel.”

From Literature

It is an accomplishment of modern thinking to get to the point where we said, “You can’t go around conquering territory, and to conquer a territory doesn’t mean you have a right to the territory.”

From Salon

Mike Rueda, a corporate sports attorney at Withers, told MarketWatch that it’s “good timing. Players have a right to demand more. They have a lot of leverage based on what has gone on over the last several years.”

From MarketWatch

Whether—and when—these workers have a right to speak openly has been the subject of many prior legal cases.

From The Wall Street Journal