[qjz]

Only 52 precent of American adults support punishment at all

It seems the real story is that 48 percent support no penalty at all. Why the misleading (and inaccurate) headline?

[sophacles]

Because no penalty is functionally the same as a $0 fine, which is well under $100. (if there are nth-time offender bumps to the fine price, then they become different, but that is not studied here).

[div]

No penalty implies a moral / ethical stance that is different from even a $1 penalty.

The underlying argument being that the majority of the population finds the current laws to be unjust not in measure, but on principle.