A legal fault standard requiring proof that a person or government official knew of a substantial risk of serious harm or a likely rights violation and consciously disregarded it, which is more blameworthy than negligence but usually less than acting with the specific purpose to cause harm.

Courts most often apply this standard in civil rights cases involving jail medical care, unsafe detention conditions, failure to protect, and some municipal-policy claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. A missed warning sign, bad judgment call, or accidental error is usually not enough. The evidence must show actual awareness of a serious danger and a choice not to respond reasonably. For example, ignoring repeated reports that a detainee needs emergency treatment, refusing care after obvious head trauma, or leaving a known suicide risk unmonitored can support a deliberate-indifference claim if the facts show conscious disregard rather than oversight.

In an injury claim, this standard often decides whether a case stays a routine personal injury matter or rises to a constitutional violation with possible damages, attorney's fees, and claims against individual officials or a public entity. In Wyoming, federal civil-rights suits using this standard are commonly filed under § 1983, and the borrowed statute of limitations is generally four years under Wyo. Stat. § 1-3-105(a)(iv)(C). In practical terms, records from places such as Wyoming Medical Center in Casper or detention logs can be critical to proving what officials knew, when they knew it, and whether they ignored a serious risk.