| | I'm not clear as to why Ted would put my question up as a quote - doesn't seem quote-worthy to me. But I'll take the opportunity to put forth some thoughts on rights.
==== Some Thoughts on Rights ====
Generalizing Rand's definition: A right is a principle defining and sanctioning a man's freedom of action in a given context. The context could be moral, political, constitutional, legal, or contractual.
For each context, a right has a base or foundation from which it is derived. Partly, this is an assertion of the hierarchical nature of knowledge. Moral rights derive from the conditions of existence man requires to live a life proper for a man. A legal right derives from its statute, or case law, or regulation. And, in our country, these derive from the constitution which derives from the Declaration of Independence which states moral principles.
A right implicitly honors a fundamental purpose. Casting the conditions of existence into prescriptive statements is the conversion of an 'is' into a 'should' for the purpose of maximizing that 'is' over all alternatives. Moral rights implicitly recognize the conditions of man's existence as man. We can say that political rights implicitly recognize the purpose of government and the purpose of government is the bridge to moral rights. We can say that constitutional rights implicitly recognize the Declaration of Independence - the fundamental purpose of constitutional rights is the implimentation of the moral rights which are the content of the Declaraion. We can say that Legal rights implicitly recognize the constitution and the principles of jurisprudence. We can say that Contractual rights implicitly recognize choice, accountability, and jurisprudence. Attempts to deny these are often examples of engaging in floating abstractions and/or stolen concepts and/or ignoring that man's actions imply purpose and that purpose is as hierarchical as knowledge.
"If I am to enjoy my life..." is an implict fundamental purpose inherent in the statement of the moral right to the pursuit of happiness. "If I am free to drive this rental car..." is a fundamental purpose inherent in the contractual right stated in a car lease agreement.
There is always the base from which a right is drawn and an area of the possible actions that it defines. An individual right is drawn from the conditions of existence man's life qua man requires and the area of the possible that it defines are all actions permitted to a man in a social context that fall within that right. The right is a bridge between our understanding of the nature of the context and what human should be permitted within it.
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Metaphysical conditions of man's existence: Those conditions that must exist for man to exist as man and defined not for a given man, but for all men - as a part of human nature. If you are a human, you need this to exist. Hence, if it is right for you to exist (as man) then it is right that these conditions of existence not be violated. This is the bridge from metaphysics to ethics.
Individual rights (moral rights): Moral principles that define and sanction freedom of action in a social context. They are derived from the conditions of man's existence qua man.
Political rights: Political principles that define and sanction freedom of action under a given political system. They are derived from moral rights. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need," is a political principle derived from altruistic moral principles and implemented by a socialist government. They are always generalized and either state or imply the existence of a government to implement them. When they become very specific, they are probably best described legal rights.
Constitutional rights: Descriptions of actions sanctioned by the Constitution. They are derived from the moral and political principles stated in the Declaration of Independence which forms the intellectual bridge between moral and political rights to create the foundation of our political and legal systems.
Legal rights: Descriptions of actions sanctioned by the law within the law's juridiction. This implies a government with a monopoly on laws for a given jurisdiction.
Contractual rights: Descriptions of actions that are sanctioned by terms of a contract. This requires a government with a monopoly on contract law within a given jurisdiction and the contract must be a valid contract under that law.
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Are you mixing up moral rights and legal rights? 
