Also known as: persons of average intelligence · average person
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A hypothetical benchmark representing the ordinary level of understanding and knowledge possessed by a typical member of the community. Courts use this standard to assess whether an item's incriminating nature is immediately apparent or whether material appeals to the prurient interest.
Officer Daniels boarded a tour bus during a lawful traffic stop and saw an opaque knotted balloon cluster in an open gear bag. Daniels's festival training led him to recognize the packaging as a common method for concealing illegal inhalants. Lena moved to suppress the seizure. The court upheld it because the officer's experience supplied probable cause even though the incriminating nature would not have been obvious to a person of average intelligence.
A bookseller was prosecuted for distributing a novel depicting explicit sexual conduct. The defense argued the material did not appeal to prurient interest under contemporary standards. The court applied the Miller test and evaluated the work from the perspective of the average person in the community to determine whether the first prong was satisfied.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The standard measures what an ordinary community member would recognize. Officers may rely on training and experience to establish probable cause even when the incriminating character of an item would not be apparent to a person of average intelligence.
An ordinance satisfies due process if a person of average intelligence and understanding can determine from its text what conduct is regulated or forbidden. Courts apply this benchmark to evaluate whether the law provides fair notice and prevents arbitrary enforcement.
Yes. The first prong of the Miller test asks whether the average person applying contemporary community standards would find that the material appeals to the prurient interest. The third prong uses a reasonable person standard under a national benchmark.
…shore is for private use only. It requires no exceptional imaginative powers to find plausible the Commission's point that the average person passing along the road in front of a phalanx of imposing permanent residences, including the appellants' new home, is likely to conclude that this particular portion of the shore is not…