Self-study
P1
The current approach to recusal and disqualification of judges heavily emphasizes appearance-based analysis. ████████████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ ██████ █████████ █████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ████ ███████████ ███ ███ ██████████ ██ ████████████ ██████ ███ ████████ ██ ██████ ██████ ███████ ██████████ ████ ███ ████ ██ █████ █████ ████████████ █████ ██████████ ██ ███████████ ██ ████ ██████████████ ████████ █████ █ █████ ██ █ █████ ██████████ ██ ███████ ████████████████ ██ █ █████ ███ █████ ██ █████ ██████████████ ███ ██████████████ ███ ███████ █████ ████ ███ █████ ██████
Intro to Topic ·
Judicial recusal
Currently, judges recuse themselves based on appearance of impropriety. Even if there's no real conflict of interest, as long as there is the appearance of impropriety, then they are expected to recuse themselves.
P2
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Criticism ·
Recusal rules are too vague
Criticism ·
Focus on appearance of bias instead of actual bias is a mistake
Actual bias is what matters. Focusing on appearance of bias may distract from noticing actual bias.
P3
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Proposed Solution ·
Transparent, written reasoning
If judge recuse, they should write out their reasons for recusing. If judge does not recuse, then write out their reasons for reaching their decision on the case.
P4
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Counterpoint ·
Written reason may be insincere
Real reason may be hidden.
Rebuttal ·
Doesn't matter
As long as impartial judges can read and agree with the explicit written reasoning, then whatever hidden real reasons don't matter.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
10.
The author of the passage ███████ ███ █████ █████████ ████
a
an established principle ██ ███
This is the best answer. The author treats this principle as established. She relies on it and doesn’t show any indication that it’s open to question.
b
part of the ██████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ ███ ███
There’s no evidence the author considers the principle “part of the definition” of the function of law. The author never mentions the function of law in the last paragraph.
c
a tool for ██████ ██ ████████ █████ ████ █████████
The author cites the legal principle as a response to those who believe judges might disguise their real reasoning. But the author doesn’t consider the principle itself to be a tool that allows judges to disguise their real reasoning.
d
unfair to parties ██ █████ ███████████
The author never suggests the legal principle is unfair. In fact, the author cites the rules to indicate that a result might not be unfair even if a judge has disguised real reasoning.
e
central to the ███████ █████ ██ ██████████ ████████ ████
The author never connects the legal principle to the current approach to judicial bias (discussed in P1).