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 used in prisoner transport vehicles.[1]
It has been alleged that some inmates are deliberately sent to incorrect destinations as an exercise of diesel therapy.[2] Voluntary surrender at the prison where the inmate will serve his time is recommended as a way of avoiding diesel therapy.[3]
Diesel therapy is sometimes used on disruptive inmates, including gang members.[4]
The case of former U.S. Representative George V. Hansen[citation needed]involved accusations of diesel therapy, as did the case of Susan McDougal,[citation needed] one of the few people who served prison time as a result of the Whitewater controversy. Other alleged recipients include Rudy Stanko,[5] who was also the defendant in the speeding case that ended Montana's "free speed" period.[6][7]
The term "diesel therapy," or "dumping,"[8] 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.[9] This is also known as bus therapy and is akin to Greyhound therapy in health care.