equality before law

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ankita1709: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 109; Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2012 7:09 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 8 times

by ankita1709 » Tue May 29, 2012 4:03 am

Famous personalities found guilty of many types of crimes in well-publicized trials are increasingly sentenced to the performance of community service, though unknown defendants convicted of similar crimes almost always serve prison sentences. However, the principle of equality before the law rules out using fame and publicity as relevant considerations in the sentencing of convicted criminals.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following conclusions?
A. The principle of equality before the law is rigorously applied in only a few types of criminal trials.
B. The number of convicted celebrities sentenced to community service should equal the number of convicted unknown defendants sentenced to community service.
C. The principle of equality before the law can properly be overridden by other principles in some cases.
D. The sentencing of celebrities to community service instead of prison constitutes a violation of the principle of equality before the law in many cases.
E. The principle of equality before the law does not allow for leniency in sentencing.

Answer and explanation please

Source: Beat The GMAT — Critical Reasoning | Tue May 29, 2012 4:03 am

Ashujain: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 123; Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2012 4:36 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 29 times

by Ashujain » Tue May 29, 2012 5:00 am

ankita1709 wrote:Famous personalities found guilty of many types of crimes in well-publicized trials are increasingly sentenced to the performance of community service, though unknown defendants convicted of similar crimes almost always serve prison sentences. However, the principle of equality before the law rules out using fame and publicity as relevant considerations in the sentencing of convicted criminals.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which one of the following conclusions?
A. The principle of equality before the law is rigorously applied in only a few types of criminal trials.
B. The number of convicted celebrities sentenced to community service should equal the number of convicted unknown defendants sentenced to community service.
C. The principle of equality before the law can properly be overridden by other principles in some cases.
D. The sentencing of celebrities to community service instead of prison constitutes a violation of the principle of equality before the law in many cases.
E. The principle of equality before the law does not allow for leniency in sentencing.

Answer and explanation please

I am not sure but the answer should be B.
Explanation: The argument starts with stating that no. of celebrities sentenced to the performance of community service is more than the the no. of unknown defendants. And then it says that the principle of equality rules out any fame and publicity, therefore the number of convicted celebrities sentenced to community service should equal the number of convicted unknown defendants sentenced to community service.

Kindly correct me if i am wrong

vk_vinayak: Legendary Member; Posts: 502; Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:36 pmFollowed by: 21 members; Thanked: 99 times

by vk_vinayak » Tue May 29, 2012 5:37 am

I vote for C

- VK

I will (Learn. Recognize. Apply)

ankita1709: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 109; Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2012 7:09 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 8 times

by ankita1709 » Tue May 29, 2012 6:47 am

Please provide the explanation..
I am not aware what the answer is but i was thinking of D

The question is to suggest a conclusion for the whole story. It is just similar to the strengthen the argument question except that we have the strengthening statement and we have to search for conclusion for that
D seems like a good conclusion for this

Opinions required

chetansharma: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 57; Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:54 am; Location: India; Thanked: 8 times; GMAT Score:640

by chetansharma » Tue May 29, 2012 6:54 am

IMO the answer shd be B

The last sentence explains that the equality before law does not consider the fame and publicity. So the correct answer choice should conclude that equality before law prevails and this is clearly expressed in option choice B

But what is source of the question? Post the OA

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Chetan Sharma

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Gaurav 2013-fall: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 307; Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2012 9:45 pm; Thanked: 12 times; GMAT Score:700

by Gaurav 2013-fall » Tue May 29, 2012 7:03 am

A. The principle of equality before the law is rigorously applied in only a few types of criminal trials. (out of scope)
B. The number of convicted celebrities sentenced to community service should equal the number of convicted unknown defendants sentenced to community service. (nowhere it' been said that the numbers should be equal)
C. The principle of equality before the law can properly be overridden by other principles in some cases. (it is not proper to override the principles)
D. The sentencing of celebrities to community service instead of prison constitutes a violation of the principle of equality before the law in many cases. contender
E. The principle of equality before the law does not allow for leniency in sentencing. (leniency is out of scope of the arg)

[spoiler]IMO D
[/spoiler]

ankita1709: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 109; Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2012 7:09 amFollowed by: 2 members; Thanked: 8 times

by ankita1709 » Tue May 29, 2012 7:04 am

chetansharma wrote:IMO the answer shd be B

The last sentence explains that the equality before law does not consider the fame and publicity. So the correct answer choice should conclude that equality before law prevails and this is clearly expressed in option choice B

But what is source of the question? Post the OA

Regards,
Chetan Sharma

Actually the source of question is a word document i copied from gmat club
The OA was not given and that is why I am so confused

GMAT Kolaveri: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 287; Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:33 amFollowed by: 6 members; Location: Pune,India; Thanked: 60 times

by GMAT Kolaveri » Tue May 29, 2012 8:41 am

i m with D.

C is wrong because it fails the fact test. we should draw the conclusion from the facts provided in the argument. other principles is not discussed in the argument.

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