LSAT 114 | Section 3 | Reading Comprehension: Q9

RC Question 9 Explanation

DISCUSSION: The main idea is to argue that intellectual authority exists and that courts do use it.

The wrong answers are ridiculous. They say courts only have intellectual authority. That’s silly. Everyone knows that courts can make the police enforce their decisions. A judge can send you to jail! That’s pure institutional authority.

This is a long question. But if you stop think about what they mean, you can easily eliminate the four wrong answers.

___________

1. Who argues that courts of law only have intellectual authority? It’s nonsense. It would mean a criminal would only go to jail if the judge had convinced him he deserved to.
   Words have meaning. Make sure you know what an answer means before you pick it.
2. Courts have no power? That’s absurd. A judge can order the police to enforce his decisions. That’s real power!
3. Nobody argues courts have only intellectual authority. This is as absurd as answers A and B.
4. CORRECT. The critics say courts are purely institutional. But in lines 46-51, the author points out that courts will reconsider past decisions for intellectual reasons. 
5. Nobody says courts only have intellectual authority. The police and government enforce courts’ decisions, even if their decisions are bad. Everyone knows that.