LSAT 158 | Section 1 | Reading Comprehension: Q21

RC Question 21 Explanation

DISCUSSION: The author doesn’t have a single place where they give their conclusion. Instead, you have to sum up from the structure:

1. Author says criminal law is well founded against corporations.
2. Introduce civil law critics, dismiss their arguments
3. Introduce the critics who argue for charging people, not corporations. Dismiss their arguments.

So the main point is that the critics are wrong and criminal charges are the best way to punish corporations

___________

1. CORRECT. The critics think we should stop using criminal charges against corporations directly. The author disagrees with all the critics. So the author believes that continuing to use criminal law against corporations is a good idea.
2. This is brought up as a premise to support why criminal sanctions are still the most effective way to punish corporations. It’s not the main point of the passage.
3. The passage doesn’t say this. It says that while both approaches are flawed, they’re still capable of deterring wrongdoing. See line 1 of paragraph 2, which calls criminal sanctions a stronger deterrent. This implies at least criminal sanctions can deter crime, and probably civil liability too.
4. This answer incorrectly mixes the author’s view (charge companies) with the views of the critics in paragraph 3 (charge company officers). The author never suggested charging corporate officers: in paragraph 4 they say it is too easy for companies to shift all responsibility to internal scapegoats. The author’s only position is that we should charge corporations.
5. The author doesn’t advocate for criminal sanctions against individuals over civil sanctions. The author thinks both are not adequate, and they spend the passage arguing against both solutions. If you picked this you need to seriously re-evaluate your understanding of the passage. The author preferred a third option: criminally charging corporations.