Waif?

 March 27, 1884, Saturday Evening Press

Obviously, this young girl likely didn't fit the definition of what a proper young lady in Menasha should be, at least by Officer Schiffer's standards.   Of course, I know this was 1884 and I know full well there weren't any social workers or other benevolent  patrons milling around on a Friday night to stick up for her when the cop was mansplaining what she should be doing. 

Leave it to the judicial system of 1884 to throw a young girl into jail for a month for the perceived sins of  what was likely termed "moral turpitude," a legal concept that refers to "an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community." This term appears in U.S. immigration law beginning in the 19th century.  As described above, a moral crime can be one that:

         · Shocks the public conscience

         · Acts against rules about one’s neighbors or society

         · Is inherently depraved and vile

         · Is conducted with evil intent

         · Is the result of reckless behavior

         · Is morally reprehensible

         · Is intentionally wrong 

The trickiest part about a crime involving moral turpitude is that this is a category to label a crime and does not define the crime itself. This means that the designation of a crime of moral turpitude can be assigned to any crime that the law decides it should be.  That's a bad place to find yourself.