LSAT 115 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q2

LR Question 2 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Critics of recent high court decisions claim that judges’…

QUESTION TYPE: Point at Issue

ARGUMENTS: The high court has recently overturned its own decisions. Tom argues that this has occurred in the past without causing problems. Mary counters that previously the court had only overturned old decisions which were clearly outdated. The new decisions overturned more recent precedent, which can create an impression of chaos.

Legal Note: High courts, such as the US Supreme Court, can usually overturn their own decisions. They generally refrain from doing so frequently, to lend a sense of order and finality to the law. Yet they also want to avoid the opposite error of letting bad decisions guide the law for too long. A high court “abiding by its own previous decisions” is the same thing as “following precedent”

ANALYSIS: Tom and Mary both agree that it can be ok for the high court to overturn past decisions. Tom mentions that in past instances the legal system was not harmed. Mary disagrees that the recent rulings were a good idea, and claims that the law will be diminished.

___________

1. CORRECT. They disagree on this specific point.
2. Tom claims that the critics were politically motivated, but neither Tom nor Mary talked about the political motivations of judges.
3. Mary doesn’t talk about the other critics.
4. Tom agrees, since he believes precedents can be overturned. Mary agrees they can be overturned when precedents are outdated.
5. Mary might believe this, but not believe that the decisions in question had become outdated.

Recap: The question begins with “Critics of recent high court decisions claim that judges'”. It is a Point at Issue question. Learn more about LSAT Point at Issue questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.