# If a very severe whipping was offered instead of years of imprisonment would you take that deal? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 29, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195 "2009-08-29T20:37:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/1 "2009-08-29T20:37:44Z")
You’re caught doing something against the law and are found guilty. The law offers you the option to receive a severe, maybe even potentially fatal, whipping that will likely leave the skin on your back in bloody tatters, but if you take it you go free.The alternative is to spend 10 years in prison. Do you take the deal? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/2 "2009-08-29T20:52:20Z")
Really severe lashings can be pretty terrible and possibly fatal but I doubt it would come to that with modern medicine and a somewhat restrained lasher. It still happens in some countries like Singapore and people don’t usually die from it. If the pain is that bad, you will most likely grey out or black out once your pain sensors get overloaded. The human body can take a lot of punishment. We had a minor version of that in my public schools in Louisiana. We could exchange each lick for corporal punishment for a day in either detention or a day of suspension. No one ever refused the licks because it was over quickly and didn’t cause any permanent damage. It really wasn’t that bad at all and I got a number of them over the years even through high school. There was no way I was going to sit in detention for 3 days when I could have 3 licks done in 1 minute. I would take the lashing as long as I thought that it would be administered professionally and the scarring wouldn’t be that bad. Ten years without seeing my children much is a worse punishment than just about anything. ---
**Author:** ![Maia\_s\_Well](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Maia\_s\_Well](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maia_s_Well)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/3 "2009-08-29T21:51:05Z")
No. No way. Even knowing that my family would be without me for ten years, no. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/4 "2009-08-29T21:54:14Z")
Both, I would deserve it. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/5 "2009-08-29T22:25:50Z")
I’d take the lashing. I am a huge wuss so I am confident I would pass out fairly quickly. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/6 "2009-08-29T22:27:25Z")
The lashing, easily, as long as the risk of death or permanent injury was extremely low. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/7 "2009-08-29T22:28:42Z")
Sounds hot. Put me down for the lashing. ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/8 "2009-08-29T22:43:12Z")
Are we talking white collar resort prison, or federal pound me in the ass prison? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/9 "2009-08-29T23:05:40Z")
Oh hell yeah. Any sentence that doesn’t fuck up my career is better than prison. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/10 "2009-08-30T00:06:52Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > Are we talking white collar resort prison, or federal pound me in the ass prison? Why do you necessarily think those are two different places? I’d take the physical punishment. I work in a prison, but I would go to great lengths to avoid living there. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/11 "2009-08-30T00:09:54Z")
The lash. In a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/12 "2009-08-30T00:16:16Z")
Lashing. I couldn’t imagine being locked up 10 years away from my family. ---
**Author:** ![Brunhilda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cdc98d/32.png) [@Brunhilda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brunhilda)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/13 "2009-08-30T00:36:11Z")
The lashing. NO contest. ---
**Author:** ![firstname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ab992/32.png) [@firstname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/firstname)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/14 "2009-08-30T00:41:44Z")
Another who’d take the lashing. Maybe a month or two (how long to get over a lashing?) of pain as opposed to ten years? ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Jake\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/15 "2009-08-30T00:50:51Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > The lash. In a heartbeat. Rum Sodomy & the Lash. The rum is cool. Sodomy as repentance? Not so sure about that. The lash? If it can keep me out of prison, I’ll take the lash. Extra rum, hold the sodomy, if you don’t mind. (Love The Pogues) ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/16 "2009-08-30T03:35:26Z")
If you guarantee I’ll survive, the lash. Before I was a Mother, I’d have picked the imprisonment. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/17 "2009-08-30T04:00:23Z")
Too bad Michael Fay isn’t a board member because then we could get a first hand perspective. As for me…I don’t know. My immediate reaction is prison, but the more I think about it maybe the lash would be better. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/18 "2009-08-30T05:26:32Z")
I was just listening to Johnny (JACKASS) Knoxville explain that he is now laughing his ass off after getting wealthy from taking physical pain over the mental pain that comes with working to make someone else rich. So short of death, I guess I would rather get it over and get on. Ten years is an awfull long time to lose. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/19 "2009-08-30T07:31:46Z")
> **[Caning of Michael Fay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay)** > > In 1994, Singaporean authorities sentenced American teenager Michael Fay to be lashed six times with a cane for violating the Vandalism Act. This caused a temporary strain in relations between Singapore and the United States. > Fay was arrested for stealing road signs and vandalizing 18 cars over a ten-day period in September 1993. Fay pled guilty, but he later claimed that he was advised that such a plea would preclude caning and that his confession was false, that he never vandalized any cars, ... ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/20 "2009-08-30T09:08:06Z")
The lash, and it’s not even close. A better question would be to ask how long the jail sentence would have to be before you trade it in for a whipping. I’d definitely trade in 18 months, and definitely not trade in 4 months. So, say about a year for me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195.md?page=2)