People Online Discuss 32 Punishments That In Reality Are Way More Harsh Than They Sound

Losing the right to vote when convicted of a felony. You're still expected to obey the laws and pay taxes, but you don't have any voice in the democratic process. We went to war over taxation without representation.

Fortunately this is changing. More states are restoring voting rights on release from prison.

It's an unpopular opinion, but I think you should only lose your voting rights if you're convicted of treason. I think people should be able to vote from within prison. If prisons are supposedly teaching people to be productive members of society, why not start by letting them vote?

My dad once tickled me until i peed. It was so unpleasant and I still hate being tickled

Waterboarding at Guantanamo bay sounds like a nice vacation if you have no idea what either of those things are.

Kneeling on rice as a kid left my husband with permanent scars and knee damage.

sleep deprivation

The Oubliette/Standing Cell

It's a jail cell so small, you can't sit down, so you're forced to stand or wedge yourself against the concrete walls. They typically can only be accessed through a hatch in the ceiling.

Standing doesn't seem so bad, but humans aren't meant to stand for extended periods. Blood pools at your feet, the lower body swells, the pain is crippling, and there's no way to get any relief.

Even worse, "oubliette" comes from the French word "oublier"-to forget. They'd toss prisoners in these cells, and literally just forget about them. No food, no water, they didn't even bother cleaning out the corpses. They'd just let the vermin eat their fill, and toss a new prisoner on top of the pile of bones.

In middle school I had a lot of issues with being late. I have dyscalculia so I struggle with numbers and time as a whole, and living far away from the school while having s****y public transport did not help.

One morning I was late one time too many and the school counselor stood in the entrance to catch those who are late. Without telling anyone she screamed at me and took me to the library and commanded me to stay in the corner. I wasn’t allowed to leave, not even to the toilet, and since it wasn’t allowed to eat in the library I couldn’t eat either. Our school had a no phone policy, not even in your backpack, meaning if I was to try and call my mom I would get in even more trouble for having a phone with me. I was a good kid and my only issue was being late to school.
I cried all day and the librarian yelled at me to stop crying. I couldn’t. I sat there for 8 hours just miserable

Also; the counselor didn’t tell anyone she put me in the library as punishment, so my teacher thought I didn’t come to school. The teacher called my mom who was hysterical because she’s the one who dropped me off that specific day. My mom thought I went missing

Solitary confinement

Sound. I know that it is well-known that playing certain songs/sounds respectively has been used as a torture device. Personally, I can agree it is the worst.

Not sure if anyone’s ever seen the movie “Dumb and Dumber,” but there is a part where the main character asks if another character wants to hear the most annoying sound in the world. He then proceeds to yell in a loud, monotonous sound in his ear. The guy snaps angrily.

Well, my daughter is nonverbal autistic and makes different sounds. She will go HOURS making the same exact noise, same pitch and tone without stopping. It is hell. Highest quality noise-cancelling headphones and still hear her (I have used to go shooting and car races and barely heard anything). I will be on the other side of the house…heard.

Neighbors (and our houses are quite a ways apart) have asked what is going on. I have her in special sessions now to atleast change the sound to something else because stopping is not possible. I would rather be in constant pain than the sounds non stop.

The Silent treatment.

The Incans had a punishment for smaller offenses that seems lesser-known.

The criminal would be bound to a post and spat upon by llamas.

(Not just a few, either. Like...50 llamas).

I thought that sounded pretty silly and harmless at first when I heard of it but apparently the threat was taken pretty seriously.

A diet of bread and water. Apparently it really messes with your bowels and become incredibly painful.

In high school two of my friends were messing around at tennis practice and the coach made everyone *else* run extra laps. On face value it seems like the messing around people got off easy, but having the rest of the team mad at you is a really effective punishment.

People think an insanity plea would be a nice cushy life sentence but those hospitals for the criminally mentally ill are just as bad as a regular penitentiary.

A night in jail.

No big deal right?

If you’ve got a job to be at, you might have just lost it. Your car probably got impounded, and that’ll cost minimum $250 to get it out, even if you go the next morning. No money? Kiss your car goodbye.

If you’ve got kids, CPS might come and get them. You’ll have to fight to get them back out.

Then if your job takes you back, you’re pretty much stuck at it till you go to court. Which could be the following year in some jurisdictions.

And wait till your apartment hears about it when you go to renew your lease. You might not be able to renew and have to move someplace new.

I’m lucky to be able to say this has never happened to me. But I don’t pretend I’ve never broken the law. It could. Like that time my car insurance went unpaid because I forgot to update them with my new card number. What if I’d been pulled over? I think about this sort of c**p all the time, too. A night in jail sounds like no big thing. And if you’re basically transient to begin with, or live with family still, maybe it’s not. But if you’re an adult with a life to maintain, that 12 hours could be the beginning of the end for you financially.

When my high school's district banned paddling/spanking as punishment, they switched to something even *more* effective: "Billy rags"

They're just rags that have been wiped alllll over male goats in rut. Goat farms sell them for goat breeding purposes (lady goats love 'em).

If you acted up, you'd be sent to the VP's office, he'd take you outside (wouldn't dare to open the jar indoors), he opened the jar with the rag in it, and you'd have to stick your nose in there and inhale for 60 seconds.

Let me tell you, bullying and hazing went way down.

The classic, holding your rifle over your head punishment. F*****g torture

People are talking about some crazy punishments here, but I feel like in general we underestimate how devastating standard punishments can be. People flippantly talk about 2 year, 5 year, 10 year prison sentences as if they are nothing, but as someone who's never been to prison, the thought of someone just removing me from.my life for 5 years is terrifying. The idea of just losing 5 years of your life, 5 years of growth and development, 5 years of socialization, and 5 years of building relationships. Without even considering the actual harm prison does in general, just the idea of missing out on your life is terrifying to me.

I'm 27, when I look back at my life at 22 and think where I would be if the last 5 years of my life never happened, that would be devastating and stunt the rest of my life.

As children we would often be made to stand on our tip toes when we were in the corner. The pain was excruciating after a few minutes and if we stopped then our timer was reset.

Sitting against the wall. Usually easy for the first few minutes, but after a while you definitely feel it.