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This does not mean, of course, that the considerations behind our correctional policy have really become less punitive in any deep or meaningful way. Our discourse has not fundamentally changed; moreover, the solutions we have approved are far from being systematic. California still does not have a sentencing commission. Various serious concerns about prison overcrowding, such as the overrepresentation of minorities, have not been properly addressed. Not much consideration, if any, has been given to the aims of punishment with regard to old and infirm inmates (beyond the issue of cost of their medical expenses). Nevertheless, as studies in punitivism repeatedly show, the public tends to be much less punitive in surveys and experiments when presented with the costs of punishment.

Keeping track of humonetarianism made me more aware of the impact of cost and scarcity on other stages of the criminal process. And, indeed, there is some evidence of crisis-mode budgeting which is changing the nature of the criminal process. This is not real leniency or a turn away from severity, but it often manifests itself in the way of decriminalization, changes in prosecutorial policies, etc, among other phenomena. Which is why I call it "leaniency". One glaring example is the fact that, perhaps for the first time, there is a real chance that California voters might legalize marijuana. As I recently found out from Quintin Mecke, who is Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's Communications Director, they've been seeing increased support of their marijuana legalization/regulation proposal in polls whenever they link it with taxation and increased revenue for the state from marijuana sales.