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.
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:
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?”
Certainly seems to be the case in South Africa. And, of course, in Europe, no-DP is a condition of EU membership