So today I podded a flashing red pilot in high-sec.
A few seconds later, I got a notice that I had lost significant (0.7) standing with State War Academy. Turns out the pilot was in an NPC corp.
This makes no sense to me:
#1, why do I lose standing with an NPC corp when I pod a CRIMINAL?
#2, why is the standing hit so large?
he’s a member of that corp , you attacked him , so they lower your standings . has nothing to do with him being a CRIMINAL .
you podded him , which has a larger standings hit than aggression or ship destruction .
your actions have consequences . while i don’t agree with this mechanic , it’s been in-game forever , and you should have been aware of it .
As with many things in EVE, I’m aware of it NOW. 
NPC corps are supposed to be mainstream. Most are state-aligned in some way. Lorewise, it makes no sense that they would want to protect criminals hiding in their ranks.
Heck, they ought to give a standings BONUS to people who remove criminals from their ranks…
The standings hit used to be worse, it was significantly reduced July 10 according to the patch notes.
Cool. I think a 0.7 hit is still pretty big, but maybe that’s just me.
So you thought you could murder a defenseless capsuleer in an escape pod and that society would not frown upon such behavior?
Lorewise, it makes perfect sense. You just have to actually know the lore.
Well, yes. This is EVE!
Especially since capsuleers are effectively immortal, and this one had engaged in criminal activity.
The lore being that the Empires are shitscared of us, and what we could do to them if we so desired.
Oh yeah! Like in real life, where you can summarily execute criminals… Oh, wait…
And yet CONCORD doesn’t care if you off a criminal. Nor do any of the Empires. Only the Corp seems to care.
If the Caldari State doesn’t care, why does a Caldari State-affiliated corporation care? Aren’t they the same society?
Sounds to me like you have a lot of studying to do before you understand the socio-political intricacies of Empire space.
I recomend the novels (EVE: Empyrean age, and Templar One) and the Chronicles.
Money is the only thing that matters in New Eden. A single ISK is a fortune to baseliners (non-capsuleers) and we have much ISK, so we get to dock.
It really is as simple as capitalism. Hyper-libertarian capitalism to the point of dystopia, bear that is mind and everything will make more sense.
Also remember that it’s a videogame and game design > lore stuff.
the criminal status is irrelevant . you’d lose standings even if you were defending yourself , in null-sec or wormhole , or mercilessly podding a < 2 week old noob who had a weapons malfunction , as your case … 
lore-wise , SWA has no prohibition on their members pirating or being outlaws , but they do take a dim view of those that attack it’s member . enjoy your lower refine rate at their stations , and losing access to their excellent agents . next time you’ll think twice !!
View it this way: your corp is like your family. Now, you might have a family member who is a notorious criminal. He’s a really bad man, but you still love him because he is family. Now if some random person drove by and shot him in the face you will not like that person, even if he did something judged right be society.
That’s the way the NPC corp views you. You shot one of theirs, it might have been legal, but you still shot one of theirs and this is their way of telling you they do not approve.
Killing amarrians should give you a standings boost with all other factions!