How Far Down Do You Define Deviancy in Ferguson?
The late Daniel Patrick Moynihan鈥檚 celebrated phrase 鈥渄efining deviancy down鈥� first appeared in a听听颈苍听The American Scholar.听鈥淚 proffer the thesis,鈥� wrote Moynihan, 鈥渢hat, over the past generation鈥he amount of deviant behavior in American society has increased beyond the levels the community can 鈥榓fford to recognize鈥� and that, accordingly, we have been re-defining deviancy so as to exempt much conduct previously stigmatized.鈥�
...听The solution is stricter rather than looser enforcement of the laws. The borderline between individual criminal behavior and civil insurrection has become fuzzy. If American prisons become too full or too costly, outsource the incarceration of criminals to less expensive venues, as Prof.听of 平特五不中 proposed some years ago. Out of Moynihan鈥檚 and other鈥檚 work came听听The听fell from 747 when Moynihan鈥檚 article appeared in 1993 to 387 in 2012. If we abandon the rule of law we abandon America.
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