Thanks for the question! So we’re being asked here for something the author thinks is a weakness of statutes that let parties to court proceedings request disqualification of judges for bias. (B) says that the weakness of these statutes is that they are incompatible with a requirement that judges make their reasoning transparent. But where does the author says this? I don’t think the author ever says that the statutes are incompatible with this requirement. And if the author never says that, then obviously, it’s not going to be a weakness of statutes.
Now take a look at lines 22-24. We’re told there that “focusing on appearances may cause sources of actual bias that are not apparent to outside observers, or even to judges themselves, to be overlooked.” Well, this kind of statute is one that’s focused on appearances, focused on if a judge seems biased. But then it’s going to overlook actual biases, and that’s what (C) tells us, so it’s the correct answer.
Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.
teresaoJanuary 9, 2021
hello, i would like a further explanation on why B is incorrect because i found evidence for it in the third paragraph. They talk about how the disqualification process is "unreliable" and should be replaced with judge's transparent reasoning, so since the author is advocating for the latter method i thought they would see the faults of the former method as a weakness. I also understand why C works too, so i guess my question is, how can you pick between two seemingly good answers? And please don't just say "you're looking for the best answer, so both can't be right" because i already know that. Thanks.
