Logical Reasoning

PT136 · S2 · Q3 Lawyer: Juries are traditionally given their instructions

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Lawyer: Juries are traditionally given their instructions in convoluted, legalistic language.

Conclusion

Jury instructions should be written in simple, easily comprehensible language.

Evidence (since)

It is more important for jurors to have a basic but adequate understanding of their role than for the details to be precisely specified.

Greater precision is of little use if most jurors have trouble understanding the instructions.

Evaluate

If we hear anything being assumed, we can potentially look for those sorts of ideas as strengtheners. Or we can raise potential objections and look for answers that rule out those objections to be strengtheners.

The argument has an Untriggered Conditional: .

The author is assuming jurors do have difficulty understanding, and so the current version of instructions is not that useful, and thus we should switch to simpler instructions.

The author identifies the goal of her plan as , so she is assuming that using simple / easy language could accomplish that goal.

If we were objecting to the plan, we'd try to think of some downside of using simple / easy language -- maybe something important would be lost. So we could strengthen the argument by saying, .

Goal

Let's get rid of the four answers that help us argue that it would be advantageous to switch to simpler wording: the current complex wording is bad / the suggested simpler wording would be effective and better.

3.

Each of the following, if true, strengthens the lawyer's argument EXCEPT:

  1. Most jurors are less likely

    Opposite

    This makes it sound like the current complicated way is worse than the suggested simpler way. Most jurors are more likely to understand the suggested simpler way than the current complicated way.

    1% picked this

  2. Most jurors do not have

    Opposite

    This strengthens by establishing that the current complicated way is problematic: most jurors don't get from it an adequate understanding of their role (which we know is the author's Goal for this Plan). This answer is essentially establishing the trigger of the Untriggered Conditional in the second sentence.

    0% picked this

  3. Jury instructions formulated in simple,

    Opposite

    This strengthens by showing that the author's Plan (simpler instruction language) is capable of achieving the author's Goal (jurors have an adequate understanding of their role).

    2% picked this

  4. Correct

    The details of the role

    Why this is right

    This does the opposite of (C), potentially weakening the argument by suggesting that the Plan (simpler language) is incompatible with the Goal (adequate understanding of their role). This doesn't guarantee that a juror's understanding would be inadequate, but it leans in that direction. We would not be able to be as precise as possible, if we were to follow the author's Plan. Since it's just mentioning a downside of the Plan, it's not strengthening.

    Skill tested: Strengthen · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    90% picked this

  5. Jurors do not need to

    Opposite

    Like (C), this helps us to believe that the Plan (ditch the precise complex wording in favor of simpler wording) is compatible with the Goal (adequate understanding of their role).

    7% picked this

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