#27 - Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=14168)

Question #27: SR, Must. The correct answer choice is (E)

This question asks us to determine the meaning of the term “capricious enforcement,” as it is used in
passage A. The discussion in the last paragraph of the passage (lines 26-36) should serve as a useful
reference point in validating the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (A): Passage A makes no mention of any limits placed by municipal resources in
enforcing a particular law.

Answer choice (B): This is the Opposite answer. Capricious enforcement of a particular law involves
targeting those areas of conduct that are inadvertently brought within the scope of that law (lines 30-
31). Such enforcement does not follow the original intent of the legislature.

Answer choice (C): The amount of damage caused by various crimes has no bearing on the issue of
capricious enforcement.

Answer choice (D): The practice of capricious enforcement is not necessarily prompted by
ignorance. The author leaves open the possibility that an agency practicing capricious enforcement is
fully aware of the difference between the letter of the law and the intent of the law.

Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. Recall that “capricious enforcement” refers
to the enforcement of a legal rule in a manner that deviates from its intended purpose. In other
words, it involves not following the intent of the legislature in enforcing the law.

[Niteesh Menon]

I didn’t understand how the passage explains capricious enforcement

[Jeff Wren]

Hi Niteesh,

"Capricious enforcement" is discussed in the final paragraph of Passage A, specifically in line 32. (If you needed to quickly find where this term appears in the passage, a quick word search of this term should get you to the right place.)

"Capricious" means given to sudden, unaccountable changes/being unpredictable. While knowing the meaning of word "capricious" is helpful in understanding this concept, the question can still be solved even without being certain of the meaning by analyzing how the term is used in the context of the passage.

The passage states that even though capricious enforcement does occur, "it does not appear to be the central tendency since legislative oversight assures that the agency does not stray too far from the intended ... regulation" (my emphasis)(lines 33-36).

Since legislative oversight assures that the agency does not stray too far from the intended regulation, and this prevents or limits capricious enforcement, then it makes sense that capricious enforcement involves straying from the intended regulation when enforcing the regulation, as stated in Answer E. In other words, if the agency enforces a regulation in unpredictable ways that stray from what the legislature intended (i.e. capricious enforcement), then legislative oversight will address this to correct the problem.