Self-study
Support People who have specialized knowledge about a scientific or technical issue are systematically excluded from juries for trials where that issue is relevant. █████ █████ ██ ████ ██ ███ █ ████ █████ ██ ████████ ████████ █████████ ████ ███████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that trial by jury isn’t a fair way to settle disputes involving scientific or technical issues. This is because people with specialized knowledge of these issues are excluded from juries in cases involving such disputes.
Notable Assumptions
The author believes that trials are unfair if people with relevant knowledge of specialized issues are systematically excluded from sitting on juries in those trials. This means the author assumes that specialized knowledge on the part of jurors is necessary to settle disputes fairly in such trials, and that having specialized knowledge wouldn't bias jurors one way or another.
20.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ █████████ ███████ ███ █████████
a
The more complicated ███ █████ █████ ██████████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ██ ████ █ █████ ███████ ███████████ █████████ ██ ███ █████ ████████ ████ ██ ████ ██ ██████████ ███ █████████ █████ ██████
If anything, this strengthens the author’s argument. If jurors without specialized knowledge are unable to understand complex issues, then it seems likely that the current system would lead to unfair decisions.
b
The more a █████ █████ █████ █ ██████████ ██████████ ██ █████████ █████ ████████ ██ █ ██████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ██ ████ ███ █████ ████ ██ ██████████ ██ █████ ██ ███ ██ ███ ██████████ ███████ ██████ ███ █████ ███████
This weakens the argument. Having specialized knowledge would actually make a trial jury less fair, since members with special knowledge would likely be prejudiced towards one party before the trial even begins. So excluding such people actually safeguards the fairness of these trials.
c
Appointing an impartial ██████████ ██ ███ █ ████ █████ ██ ████████ ████████ █████████ ██████████ ██ █████████ ███████ ███████ ███████████ ████ ██ █████ ███████████ ██ █████ ████ ███████ ██████████ ██ ███ ███████
Irrelevant. We're not interested in whether independent arbitrators are fair or unfair, just whether jury trials are unfair for the reason the author provides.
d
Experts who give █████████ ██ ██████████ ██ █████████ ██████ ████ ██ █████ █████ ███████████ ██ ██████████ ███ ███████████ ██ ██████
On its own, this information doesn't weaken the author’s claim. We would need more information about the effect such hedging has on jurors with and without specialized knowledge.
e
Expert witnesses in ███████████ ██████ █████ ███████ ████ ████ ███ ██ ████ ████ ████ ██████ ████████ ██ ██████████ ██████ ██████ █████ █████████
Irrelevant. We're not interested in expert witnesses.