What are your thoughts on this passage? Our current judicial system certainly subscribes to concepts attributed to utilitarianism and retributivism but I think the judicial system has more similarities with utilitarianism. One of the basic principles of utilitarianism is that the mere threat of punishment can reduce crime in a community (general deterrence). Deterrence and incapacitation, the latter principle which states that someone imprisoned cannot commit a crime during the time of the sentence, in my view were key proponents of the "War on Drugs" in the 1970s and 80s. Harsh penalties for drug crimes served not only to imprison offenders but also as a way to combat the rise of drugs in many communities and ultimately reduce possession and consumption of those drugs. To this day, deterrence and incapacitation rule many judicial systems across the country but people are beginning to rethink the criminal justice system and looking for ways in which rehabilitation/reform, the final form of utilitarianism, can be more prevalent. While decades ago, substance abuse was viewed solely as a crime, in many places it is seen as an illness that needs to treated as such. The same method of thinking has been applied to many nonviolent offenses; instead of solely punishing people for their crimes, our system is starting to shift to one in which we work to ensure that people are provided with the tools so that they don't have to commit these crimes and are not just refraining from it out of fear for punishment