The Torah states that the people of Sodom were “exceedingly wicked and sinful” (Genesis 13:13), but it does not state precisely how their wickedness was manifest. The Sages elaborate on the matter, particularly the societal depravation of the city’s residents.

The people of Sodom would set their sights on property owners, place a property owner alongside an inclined wall about to fall, push it upon him to kill him, and then seize his property. There were four judges in Sodom: Liar, Habitual Liar, Forger, and Perverter of Justice. In the case of one who strikes the wife of another and causes her to miscarry, they would say to the victim’s husband: Give her to the assailant, so that he will impregnate her for you. In the case of one who would sever the ear of another’s donkey, they would say to the owner of the donkey: Give it to the assailant until the ear grows back. In the case of one who would wound another, they would say to the victim: Pay the assailant a fee, as he let your blood.(Sanhedrin 109a; Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer 25)