Q3

[LSAT-Chang]

What is wrong with answer choice B?? It seems like the third paragraph is all about "fairness". I was down to A and B, but thought that B was a better principle that illustrated the third paragraph.

[giladedelman]

Thanks for your post! There is a good lesson to be learned here: check EVERY word in the answer choice before choosing it.

(B) is tempting, sure, because it mentions fairness, but it goes off the rail once it starts talking about how judges must be extremely thorough. Quite simply, the paragraph (indeed the whole passage) has nothing to do with how judges need to perform their jobs. So this is totally out of scope.

(A) is correct because the argument here is that unanimity, which is a strong requirement, should not be abandoned, because it reduces the chances of an unfair/unjust outcome. So the risk of such an outcome is evidently serious enough to justify the strong measure of unanimity.

As for the others:

(C) is too extreme; the passage doesn't suggest that unjust verdicts can be eliminated.

(D) is unsupported; the passage doesn't indicate that some citizens perform irresponsibly.

(E) is likewise unsupported; the passage doesn't suggest that the jury system is "inherently flawed."

Does that help?

[LSAT-Chang]

YES! That definitely helped! I can't believe I fell for the second half of the answer choice "judges must be extremely thorough in order to ensure it" this is so out of scope -- this always happens to me! I read an answer choice and I always fall for those answer choices that are 1/2 right and 1/2 wrong, and so I try to persuade myself that the other half is just right. (A) is definitely a much better answer than (B). Thank you!

[bigtree65]

Lines 40-45: "innocent ppl are already occasionally convicted - perhaps in some cases because jurors presume that anyone who has been been brought to trial is probably guilty..." isn't this showing that the jury can behave irresponsibly and direct support for D?

[SecondWind180]

Lines 40-45: "innocent ppl are already occasionally convicted - perhaps in some cases because jurors presume that anyone who has been been brought to trial is probably guilty..." isn't this showing that the jury can behave irresponsibly and direct support for D?

Correct. However, the ¶ says nothing about "Safeguards that must be put into place".

[doylemurphy89]

Lines 40-45: "innocent ppl are already occasionally convicted - perhaps in some cases because jurors presume that anyone who has been been brought to trial is probably guilty..." isn't this showing that the jury can behave irresponsibly and direct support for D?

I got down to A and D and ended up choosing A but I considered D a lot more when I reviewed this. The "perhaps in some cases" is the problem because the author is giving an example of a reason for people being wrongly convicted but we don't know for sure if some jurors actually do assume the defendant is guilty, just that it could be an explanation.

[WaltGrace1983]

I think the red flag for (D) is the "safeguards must be put in place." The author DOES NOT in ANY WAY want safeguards for jury trials. In fact, the author basically thinks that we shouldn't touch the system ("if it isn't broken, don't fix it").

[WeitaoZ991]

I think the red flag for (D) is the "safeguards must be put in place." The author DOES NOT in ANY WAY want safeguards for jury trials. In fact, the author basically thinks that we shouldn't touch the system ("if it isn't broken, don't fix it").

Isn't the unanimity requirement a safeguard?