248
Stevens, J., dissenting
has never invalidated such a law on separation-of-powers grounds until today. Indeed, only last Term we recognized Congress' ample power to enact a law that "in effect 'restored' rights that [a party] reasonably and in good faith thought he possessed before the surprising announcement" of a Supreme Court decision. Rivers v. Roadway Express, Inc., 511 U. S. 298, 310 (1994) (discussing Frisbie v. Whitney, 9 Wall. 187 (1870)). We conditioned our unambiguous restatement of the proposition that "Congress had the power to enact legislation that had the practical effect of restoring the status quo retroactively," 511 U. S., at 310, only on Congress' clear expression of its intent to do so.
A large class of investors reasonably and in good faith thought they possessed rights of action before the surprising announcement of the Lampf rule on June 20, 1991. When it enacted the 1991 amendment, Congress clearly expressed its intent to restore the rights Lampf had denied the aggrieved class. Section 27A comported fully with Rivers and with other precedents in which we consistently have recognized Congress' power to enact remedial statutes that set aside classes of final judgments. The only remarkable feature of
ally related to a legitimate public purpose. Cf., e. g., Concrete Pipe & Products of Cal., Inc. v. Construction Laborers Pension Trust for Southern Cal., 508 U. S. 602, 636-641 (1993). Given the existence of statutes and rules, such as Rule 60(b), that allow courts to reopen apparently "final" judgments in various circumstances, see infra, at 256-259, respondents cannot assert an inviolable "vested right" in the District Court's post-Lampf dismissal of petitioners' claims. In addition, § 27A(b) did not upset any "settled expectations" of respondents. Cf. Landgraf v. USI Film Products, 511 U. S. 244, 266 (1994). In Landgraf, we concluded that Congress did not intend § 102 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U. S. C. § 1981a (1988 ed., Supp. V), to apply retroactively because retroactive application would have placed a new legal burden on past conduct. 511 U. S., at 280- 286. Before 1991 no one could have relied either on the yet-to-be-announced rule in Lampf or on the Court's unpredictable decision to apply that rule retroactively. All of the reliance interests that ordinarily support a presumption against retroactivity militate in favor of allowing retroactive application of § 27A.
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