Why do I get a feeling that this time, the Giles Corey refusal to enter a plea would not be an honored tactic?
The 80-year-old Corey was accused of witchcraft during the 1692 Salem trials, but he refused to enter a plea to the court. As punishment, he was laid naked in a pit in a field, and slowly pressed to death over two days. Heavy rocks were gradually placed upon his chest–but he refused to cry out in pain, or enter a plea, and each time he was asked to do so, he simply replied: “More weight.”
— tvtropes explains why this was both necessary, and a Crowning Moment of Awesome —
IOW, it averted the Catch-22 that the legal-system had going; this time I do not think that the judiciary would honor the rules, the law, Justice or the people.More weight.— Giles Corey, being tried-by-crushing-ordeal for witchcraft in Salem, asked if he would confess to his "crime." He was a Real Life Rules Lawyer, and knew that if he died under interrogation, he was still legally a Christian and his sons could inherit his property. Confessing would spare his life, but he would no longer be considered a Christian and his property would be forfeit. Denying the charges would result in his conviction and execution, as the trials were flagrantly rigged, and again his property would be forfeit. So, by refusing to enter any plea at all, he saved his family from poverty and earned a Dying Moment of Awesome.