PrepTest 146, Section 4, Question 4
Passage A Jury nullification occurs when the jury(496 more words not shown)
Passage A(262 more words not shown)
Passage B(242 more words not shown)
The authors of the passages(8 more words not shown)
- Ajuries should be(8 more words not shown)
- Blaws are subject(7 more words not shown)
- Cit is likely(13 more words not shown)
- Dit is within(14 more words not shown)
- Epolice and prosecutors(13 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Should juries have a role in deciding whether a law ought to apply to a particular defendant? A assigns lawmaking to legislators and interpretation to judges, then criticizes juries for stepping into that territory. B says general laws cannot anticipate every situation and welcomes juries' judgment about particular cases.
What we’re looking for
That's the disagreement to look for. Both writers can accept that laws deserve scrutiny while disagreeing about who should exercise this power.
Working the answers
- A
A worries that juries do not explain their verdicts, but B does not oppose more explanation. Silence on that proposal is not disagreement with it.
- B
A explicitly allows reasonable disagreement about criminal laws, and B discusses ways juries can expose problems with them. The dispute is over juries' role, not whether laws can be questioned.
- C
Neither writer compares elected officials' bias with jurors' bias. We cannot invent that ranking from their different views of nullification.
- DCorrect
“Purview” means the scope of someone's responsibility. A reserves interpretation for judges and rejects juries' unaccountable intervention. B thinks juries can assist the legislature by deciding that a general law should not apply to a particular defendant. They disagree about this broader role for juries.
- E
B notes that police and prosecutors already have discretion, then argues for a jury safeguard as well. Neither writer calls for reducing those officials' discretion.
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