# No, nothing barbaric about this (death penalty rant) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 30, 2014, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-nothing-barbaric-about-this-death-penalty-rant/687347 "2014-04-30T10:29:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-nothing-barbaric-about-this-death-penalty-rant/687347/221 "2014-05-05T01:06:47Z")
> [@drew870mitchell](#): > > The total size of the community that would write out such procedures is rather small and half of them (the inmates, rather than the activists) have minimal internet access. If it were routine for death row inmates to deliberately dehydrate themselves (as opposed to 1 or 2 isolated incidents) then there should be some kind of talk about this on the Internet somewhere. If anti-DP advocates were actively _encouraging_ death row inmates to do this to themselves, then there would definitely be talk about it somewhere. The fact that no one can confirm this story, or even find discussion about it, makes me very suspicious. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![drew870mitchell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drew870mitchell/32/3946_2.png) [@drew870mitchell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drew870mitchell)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-nothing-barbaric-about-this-death-penalty-rant/687347/222 "2014-05-05T05:21:11Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > If it were routine for death row inmates to deliberately dehydrate themselves (as opposed to 1 or 2 isolated incidents) then there should be some kind of talk about this on the Internet somewhere. > > If anti-DP advocates were actively _encouraging_ death row inmates to do this to themselves, then there would definitely be talk about it somewhere. > > The fact that no one can confirm this story, or even find discussion about it, makes me very suspicious. :dubious: When I first read **Lucky Mike** ’s post I took him to mean that it _had happened_ rather than it being usual procedure. Looking at it again I can see that he could be taken to mean it’s a common tactic. The more frequency you read into his assertion, yes, the harder it is to believe it wouldn’t have made its way onto the Internet, by chance. But who would put it there? Each poster here probably does a dozen things every day that have no documentation or discussion on the public Internet. There are more things in Heaven and Earth than in your first page of Google results. You’re right, though, it’s good to have a healthy suspicion. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-nothing-barbaric-about-this-death-penalty-rant/687347/223 "2014-05-05T06:37:45Z")
> [@drew870mitchell](#): > > When I first read **Lucky Mike** ’s post I took him to mean that it _had happened_ rather than it being usual procedure. Looking at it again I can see that he could be taken to mean it’s a common tactic. The more frequency you read into his assertion, yes, the harder it is to believe it wouldn’t have made its way onto the Internet, by chance. I have no problem believing that death row inmates, on occasion, have intentionally tried to make the process harder on themselves. People do crazy shit when faced with their own mortality. However, _this_ section in particular is the one that raising everyone’s eyebrows: > [@Lucky\_Mike](#): > > 1. The DP, and the crusade against it, inspires good people to do odd things. I have seen attorneys sneak in contraband to an inmate, threatening their law license. **I have heard them coach inmates on ways to make the process more cruel to further their agenda of stopping the DP.** Inmates will not drink for 3 days prior to execution at the behest of their lawyers, so a vein cannot be found. The cruel result is, in some part, coached by anti-DP advocates who are willing to allow someone to suffer to advance their goals. The bolded part’s pretty far beyond the pale to accept on faith. Plus, it doesn’t help that nobody’s been able to confirm this actually happens, beyond the statement of one ex-prison guard who clearly has an axe to grind – which is basically why everyone’s demanding, “Cite?” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-nothing-barbaric-about-this-death-penalty-rant/687347/224 "2014-05-05T07:15:44Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > I read in the Economist once that most countries that have abolished the death penalty did so in the face of popular support for the practice. Certainly seems to be the case in South Africa. And, of course, in Europe, no-DP is a condition of EU membership [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-nothing-barbaric-about-this-death-penalty-rant/687347.md?page=11)