Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT144 S2 Q6 Explanation

Lawyer: In addition to any other penalties

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsPrinciple-Strengthen

Keep going in LSAT Lab

  • Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

Free to start

Full official LSAT questions are available through LawHub. This page provides LSAT Lab's explanation, strategy, and review tools without republishing the full official question.

Stimulus

Lawyer: In addition to any other penalties, convicted criminals must now pay a "victim surcharge" of $30. The surcharge is used to fund services for victims of violent crimes, but this penalty is unfair to nonviolent all crimes, even nonviolent ones like petty theft.

What this question is testing

Principle-Strengthen

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence gap.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
6.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, would most help to justify the reasoning in

Answer choices

  1. Trap0% picked this

    The penalties for a crime should be severe enough to deter most people who would commit the crime

  2. Trap9% picked this

    The overall penalty for a violent crime should be more severe than the overall penalty

  3. Trap4% picked this

    A surcharge intended to provide services to victims is justified only if all proceeds of the surcharge are

  4. Correct86% picked this

    A criminal should not be required to pay for services provided to victims of crimes that are more serious than the type of crime

    Why this is right

    Answer D is correct.

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

  5. Trap1% picked this

    Convicted thieves should be fined an amount at least as great as the value of

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free