Deliberate indifference is a legal standard used in civil rights cases requiring a plaintiff to show that a responsible institution had actual knowledge of a constitutional or statutory violation and responded with unreasonable inaction. In the context of Title VI and Title IX harassment claims, the Supreme Court in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education (1999) held that schools are liable when their response to peer harassment is "clearly unreasonable in light of the known circumstances." The standard is higher than negligence but lower than intentional discrimination.