Since 1954, when the Supreme Court ruled that segregation

IMO C
It correctly indicates that the activitity is still going on


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Why is D wrong? What is wrong with "has" constituted?

Since 1954, when the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was unconstitutional, the Supreme Court heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation.

The question tests the knowledge on

Meaning clarity, Tenses, Verb Usage

Meaning
Supreme Court ruled segregation was unconstitutional (At The Past)
From that time, there has been intense debate in Supreme Court as what can be categorized as constitution segregation (At past and present)

POE
Please consider the Red flag "Since"- Present perfect should be used
Options A, B, E can be eliminated due to the wrong usage of tenses

(A) heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation [Past]
(B) had heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation [Past perfect]
(C) has heard cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation
(D) has heard cases in which lawyers debated what has constituted segregation
(E) was hearing cases in which lawyers debated what constituted segregation [Past Continuous]

Between C and D
D. There is an ambiguity in meaning. This option says that the lawyers heard only the cases in which there has been a debate on constituted segregation
Hence Option C

Doesn't look like a Gmattish question. The shift of tense is blatantly gross.
It is accepted that the preposition 'since' entails a present perfect tense. When you use perfect tense for the main part, you must maintain that tense in other parts too. However, it is not clear why all the choices including those that use the perfect tense for the main part are not using the present perfect such as 'has debated' and 'has constituted' for the other parts too, including the supposedly correct choice C.

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

Since 1954 means that you're dealing with a process that began in the past and is still in progress. Therefore, has heard is better than heard, had heard, or was hearing because the perfect tense (has heard) describes a situation that began in the past and continues into the present. Eliminate (A), (B), and (E). (D) is wrong because changing constituted into the perfect has constituted unnecessarily changes the meaning of the sentence. Go with (C).

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