#8 - Concept Reference, Must Be True

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation
(See the complete passage discussion here: lsat/viewtopic.php?t=10851)

The correct answer choice is (B)

To answer this question quickly and efficiently, understanding passage Structure is key: the main weakness in the current system is described in the second paragraph (lines 12-16), which provides a suitable basis for validating the correct answer choice.

Answer choice (A): The passage does not suggest that the current rules of recusal interfere with the judge’s reasoning. This choice fails the Fact Test and is incorrect.

Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. As discussed in lines 12-16, the current rules fail to specify the relevant perspective to consider in the determination of apparent bias.

Answer choice (C): The author does not say that the current rules of recusal exaggerate the importance of transparency in judicial reasoning. On the contrary, the author believes that greater transparency is part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Answer choice (D): This is an Opposite answer, because placing responsibility for recusal entirely on judges is an essential component of the solution, not the problem, of judicial recusals.

Answer choice (E): This is another Opposite answer, because the current rules seem to place too much, not too little, importance on the appearance of propriety.

[KwakuS]

Hello,

I believe that I am struggling to understand where the author says that too many people can decide what the standards of recusal are. I understand that in the paragraph, it mentions that a judge's partiality can be questioned "without giving any idea of whose perspective to take or how to interpret the facts." Is that phrase supposed to indicate that multiple people are deciding what the standards of recusal are? And if so, is that why answer choice D is wrong?

[atierney]

Hello,

Yes, I would point to line 15 as specific evidence for answer choice B as the correct answer. A general theme you'll find for the RC section is that it's more about what makes a particular answer choice the best answer, rather than specifically why another is flat out wrong, with wrong here, in the must-be-true questions, meaning anything must be false to potentially (could be) true. That being said, I think D is "wrong" for two reasons: firstly, it is not the case that the judge has the sole responsibility for recusal in all jurisdictions, and this can be found in lines 8 through 10, but secondly, even if it were the case that judges had the sole responsibility for recusal in all jurisdictions, I don't think that's the essential problem the author has with the current system.

Remember, the focus of the author's qualms with the recusal system, as it currently stands, is that it is based merely on the "appearance" of bias, and not on the actual existence of bias within the holding of any given case. The author wants to make sure that bias isn't hiding in the secluded corner of judicial opinions, especially where such opinions offer no window into the reasoning behind the holding. This idea of transparency, discussed in the third paragraph, and the apparent lack thereof in matters of determining bias, is really what the author sees as a weakness in the current rules regarding recusal. Thus, issues relating to using the "appearance" of bias, including failing to specify whose perspective is relevant to determining this bias, will be a relevant weakness in the current system according to the author.

Let me know if you have further questions.