Diesel therapy is slang for prison transportation in the United States in which prisoners are shackled and then transported for days or weeks; the term refers to the

diesel fuel Diesel fuel, also called diesel oil, heavy oil (historically) or simply diesel, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a re ...

used in

prisoner transport vehicle A prisoner transport vehicle, informally known as a "Sweat Box" or “Court Bus” amongst British prisoners, is a specially designed or retrofitted vehicle, usually a van or bus, used to transport prisoners from one secure area, such as a priso ...

s. It has been alleged that some inmates are deliberately sent to incorrect destinations as an exercise of diesel therapy. Voluntary surrender at the prison where the inmate will serve his time is recommended as a way of avoiding diesel therapy. Diesel therapy is sometimes used on disruptive inmates, including gang members. The case of former U.S. Representative George V. Hansen involved accusations of diesel therapy, as did the case of

Susan McDougal Susan Carol McDougal (née Henley; born June 27, 1955) is a real estate investor who served prison time as a result of the Whitewater controversy. Her refusal to answer "three questions" for a grand jury, on whether President Bill Clinton lied ...

, one of the few people who served prison time as a result of the

Whitewater controversy The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, Whitewatergate, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s. It began with an investigation into the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their ...

. Other alleged recipients include Rudy Stanko, who was also the defendant in the speeding case that ended Montana's "free speed" period. The term "diesel therapy," or "dumping," is also used to refer to a method by law-enforcement personnel of getting rid of troublesome individuals by placing them on a bus to another jurisdiction. This is also known as bus therapy and is akin to

Greyhound therapy Greyhound therapy is a pejorative term used in the US health care system since the mid-1960s to refer to mental health authorities' buying a ticket on a Greyhound Lines bus or other coach bus to get rid of possible "troublemaker" patients. Th ...

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

References

{{reflist Punishments Penal system in the United States

See also

References