#3 - Global Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete question explanation.

Must be True. The correct answer is answer choice (C)

Neither passage is explicitly about cameras in the courtroom, but if we were to prephrase here passage A is concerned with potential issues that can arise from jury nullification while passage B believes it is a valuable tool. We want an answer choice that matches this.

Answer choice (A) - These titles are both too ambiguous - both passages have strong feelings (pro and con) towards jury nullification, so this is incorrect.

Answer choice (B) - The first title accurately captures the 3 issues passage A raises, but mistakes the tone of passage A as more neutral than it was. Likewise, passage B isn't sharing "unexpected" benefits of jury nullification, but rather making a strong argument for why it's positive.

Answer choice (C) - This is the correct answer. - this captures the strong positive and negative sentiments each passage has towards jury nullification, with Passage A painting it as a dangerous practice and passage B presenting it as a positive tool for legislatures and police/prosecutors.

Answer choice (D) - Passage A doesn't talk much about historical issues with nullification, and passage B doesn't touch on motives for juries who nullify.

Answer choice (E) - Passage A doesn't argue to end jury nullification, only to make the reasoning behind it more transparent, so this is incorrect. Additionally, passage B isn't talking about the inevitable - jury nullification is already in practice.

[ncolicci11]

Hi Powerscore!

I got this question wrong because I was distracted by the very last paragraph of passage A, which referred to the public debate of the reach of criminal laws. So, initially, I looked for an answer that had to do with the benefits of cameras in the courtroom (an obviously erroneous decision under the time constraints!)

So, is C correct because "camera in the courtroom" is symbolic of juries? A is concerned with the dangers of jury nullification while B believes there are practical benefits to such practice. Thus, “The Inherent Dangers of Permitting Cameras in Court” “How Televising Courtroom Proceedings Can Assist the Law” accurately describes the relationship between the passages?

[sbose]

Hi!

I was just wondering why exactly B was wrong? Is it because the benefits of jury nullification in passage B weren't stated as being "unexpected"?

I understand why C is correct now, but I had picked B because the description of passage A included "Three Central Issues in the Debate" and the description seemed less extreme than the "inherent dangers" wording in answer C.

Thank you so much for your help!

[Jeremy Press]

Hi sbose,

You're absolutely right about Passage B (the problem is the term "unexpected"), but I'd be inclined to call both of the titles in answer choice B off-base.

Passage A is about three specific problems with jury nullification (notice the final sentence of the first paragraph, which says "the problems created by the jury's power to nullify are great"), rather than just "three central issues" in the debate over jury nullification (issues being a neutral term that doesn't imply judgment one way or the other). So that's not my ideal description for Passage A. To make it work better, the title for Passage A in answer choice B should've been "Cameras in the Courtroom: Three Major Problems."

I hope this helps!

Jeremy

[sbose]

Hi Jeremy,

Ah, that makes sense! I didn't think about "issues" in that way. Thanks so much for your help!

[shanhickey]

Hello!

I think im still having problems understanding why B is wrong. I was ultimately switching back and forth between B and C. They both seemed right to me. Is the word "issues" always a neutral term for the LSAT? What about passage C makes it stand out as correct?

Thanks!

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi shanhickey,

The term "issues" in the first part of answer choice (B) is not a great descriptor of what Passage A is doing. For "issues" to be correct in that phrase, we'd expect to see both pros and cons discussed, whereas Passage A is really focused on the risks. Issues in a debate are more like topics to discuss. Think about the presidential debates. When they announce the issues to be discussed in each, the moderators aren't taking a side (or shouldn't be). It's a neutral topic of discussion that different people may disagree on.

I also object to the term "unexpected" in the second part of answer choice (B). There's no indication that the jury nullification results are unexpected.

For me, answer choice (C) stood out as it described Passage A as clearly negative toward the topic. My prephrase was to look for something about risk in describing Passage A. The term "dangers" was very close to that prephrase. For Passage B, I was looking for something about the beneficial impact of the process. The term "assist" in the answer choice made it jump out as what I was looking for.

Hope that helps!