Also known as: men of ordinary prudence · ordinary prudent man · reasonable person · reasonable man · prudent person
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A standard of conduct requiring a person to exercise the degree of care that a reasonably prudent individual would exercise under similar circumstances.
Musa Mensah left a loaded rifle unattended on a crowded campsite after a hunting trip. When a child picked it up and it discharged, killing another camper, prosecutors charged involuntary manslaughter. The court measured Mensah's conduct against the man of ordinary prudence and found the failure to secure the weapon created an unjustifiable risk of death.
Maurice Marshall told a colleague he had falsified inventory records to hide a shortfall. When the colleague later sought to introduce the statement at trial, the court evaluated whether a man of ordinary prudence in Marshall's position would have made the admission only if he believed it true, given its tendency to expose him to liability.
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Maya Malik stored flammable chemicals near an open flame in a shared warehouse without checking ventilation. When an explosion injured a coworker, the court assessed whether Malik should have perceived the substantial risk and whether her failure to do so constituted a gross deviation from the standard a man of ordinary prudence would observe.
Judge Matthew Martinez accepted a paid speaking engagement at a political fundraiser. A disciplinary panel examined whether the activity would appear to a man of ordinary prudence to undermine the judge's impartiality and therefore violate the conduct rules.
Ming Ma told a buyer the warehouse roof had been fully replaced the prior year when he knew only partial repairs had occurred. The court determined the statement was material because a man of ordinary prudence in the buyer's position would likely have relied on it in deciding to purchase.
Maria Morales drove through an intersection without checking for oncoming traffic after her view was briefly obstructed by a delivery truck. When she struck a pedestrian, the court instructed the jury to apply the standard of a man of ordinary prudence under like circumstances to determine whether she breached her duty of care.
The man of ordinary prudence standard is objective. It measures conduct against what a reasonably prudent person would do in the same situation rather than the defendant's personal beliefs or abilities.
The standard generally does not apply to children. A child is held to the degree of care that a reasonably prudent child of the same age, intelligence, and experience would exercise, unless the child is engaged in an adult activity.
In involuntary manslaughter cases at common law, the standard determines whether the defendant's negligence or recklessness created a high risk of death or serious bodily harm that a reasonable person would have avoided.
…questions that are presented by the constantly increasing power of science to keep the human body alive for longer than any reasonable person would want to inhabit it. The States have begun to grapple with these problems through legislation. I am concerned, from a proper judicial perspective, that we should not place additional…