If I had gone into the soft sciences, THIS is the kind of research I would want to do.

Science of evil: Depravity scale ranks crimes

by Emily Sohn

updated 7/9/2010 12:56:16 PM ET

Which is worse: Bombing a building or forcing a child to watch a crime? Attacking a stranger for fun or causing a car accident while under the influence of drugs or alcohol? Murder with intent or murder by mistake?
They're complicated questions that, in the heat of a criminal trial, can get tangled up in emotion, abstract impressions and arguments about how bad a crime really was.

In an attempt to restore order that even judges and juries often can't instill, an ongoing project is working to clarify exactly what it means for a crime to be "heinous," "cruel," "atrocious," "depraved" or "evil" -- words that get thrown around courtrooms but lack clear definitions.

By creating societal standards for different levels of criminal activity, the project aims to create a clear-cut "Depravity Scale" that would guide sentencing decisions. To achieve that goal, researchers are asking for input through online surveys from as many people as possible -- including you.

"Our feeling is that if we establish some kind of fair threshold system, then the worst crimes will separate themselves out -- not because the press makes it sensational or the victim is attractive or the perpetrator is unlikable, but because of something evidence-driven," said Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist at the New York University School of Medicine and chairman of The Forensic Panel, a forensic science consulting firm.

For the full article, click here: MSN/Discovery News

To participate in the scale, click here: https://depravityscale.org/depscale/ (requires free registration)

PROFESSOR DONOVAN:
Would you rather have a client who committed a crime malum in se or malum prohibitum?

ELLE:
Neither.

PROFESSOR DONOVAN:
Why not?

ELLE:
I'd rather have a client who's innocent.

PROFESSOR DONOVAN:
Dare to dream, Ms. Woods. Ms.Knottingham? Which would you prefer?

SARAH:
Malum prohibitum. Because the client would've committed a regulatory infraction as opposed to a dangerous rime.

(Elle raises her hand.)

PROFESSOR DONOVAN:
Yes? Ms. Woods?

ELLE:
I changed my mind. I ' d pick the dangerous one.
I ' m not afraid of a challenge.

Soon after as those terms gain a standard classification they will become overused in crime dramas and then by the general public.

The terms "moron", "imbecile", and "idiot" were once all perfectly valid psychiatric terms describing specific degrees of mental retardation. Then they were overused and ultimately dropped by mental health professionals in favor of different terms.

Eventually using the word "challenged" will be as offensive as calling someone retarded.

These are just my lay opinions; I am not a lawyer, physiatrist, or linguist.