The Reasonableness of the Reasonable Person Standard in the American Criminal Justice System

• In Event: Poster Session 2

Abstract

The focus of this presentation is to critically analyze how rational it is to use the “reasonable person” standard in court against criminal defendants in the United States. This is an objective standard used by courts to determine if a hypothetical person would have behaved similarly in the specific situation the defendant was in.

The method in this research explores and compiles information to critically examine the rationale behind this legal standard in reviewing case law about how the “reasonable person” is defined, understood, and applied by courts. The methods to determine its rationale would be extensive review of case law, state and federal statutes, and scholarly articles published on this topic.

Some key findings anticipated in this research are how the standard has been unjustly used against certain genders and races from both the defense and victim perspective of the case.

Author

• Jadilyz Jazmin Baez, Kutztown University