Q19

[lhermary]

I don't get why D is right here. All I can find is that it says that subsequent decision made by judges are not bound by previous judges dicta.

I chose E because it seemed like the most logical answer

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

So the important part of identifying the correct answer on this question is to remember that we're looking for the answer choice that represents the realists' belief.

In lines 42-44 the realists charge that what one judge saw as the boundaries between the holding (the decision and the essential grounds for it) and the dicta (everything else) may be construed differently by later judges. This actually runs opposite to answer choice (E). So while answer choice (E) represents what we would hope for, answer choice (D) represents the criticism made by the realists.

Let's take a look at the incorrect answers:

(A) is almost supported in lines 36-38 but not quite. It says "even when the judge writing an opinion characterizes part of it as 'the holding', ..." This does not suggest that this is "usually" the case.
(B) plays off a them started in question 15 in answer choice (A) where the test-writer plants the seed that later judges might overturn previous decisions, but this is not supported by the text.
(C) is the opposite of the realists' charge.
(E) is the opposite of the realists' charge, who claim that the loose relationship between the two is what is creating the legal indeterminacy.

Hope that helps!

[tzyc]

So what (D) says is...realists can disagree with original judges is that correct??
(dicta is "not essential to the decision" but they can think it to be essential to the original opinion...) Otherwise I thought D contradicts what realist says...

Thank you