Psychiatrists devise 'depravity rating' to help courts decide on death sentences By Charles Laurence in New York(Filed: 20/02/2005)A "depravity rating" that measures evil and will help courts decide whether convicted murderers should face execution or just imprisonment has been drawn up by American psychiatrists.For decades, doctors shunned the use of the word "evil" on the grounds that it crossed the line between clinical and moral judgment. Now, however, two studies of the criminal personality have concluded that "evil" should be used to describe the most vicious criminals – and that it can be measured. In the first study, Dr...
