The Box (torture)

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The Box, also known as a hot box or sweatbox, is a method of solitary confinement used in humid and arid regions as a method of punishment. Anyone placed in one would experience extreme heat, dehydration, heat exhaustion, even death, depending on when and how long one was kept in one. Another variation of this punishment is known as sweating: the use of a heated room to punish or coerce a person into cooperating with police officials.

[edit] Usage

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Used by prisons in the American South until later in the 20th century.
- An incarcerated murderer reported being locked up in one in an Alabama prison in 1998, after publishing an inflammatory letter.
- Chain gang prisoners were often subjected to this form of punishment.
Reported use of "extreme heat" and "sweating" in China against dissidents.
Reported use of "extreme heat" on Palestinian captives.
Reported use during the Vietnam War.
Reported use by Miami Beach Police Department by placing detainees in vans that do not run, inside of hot garages for hours, then into a freezer like box for an hour, to variate your body temparature.

[edit] Examples in fictional media

In the book I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang, later adapted into the 1932 film, described this form of punishment in detail. Warner Bros. decided to not include this device in the film.
A character in Nightmare in Badham County! is tossed in a "hot box" for an escape attempt.
An episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast has Space Ghost threatening to throw Zorak "in the box" (consistent with the program's play on Southern humor).
In the episode Slave Island of X-Men: The Animated Series, Storm is punished in a sweatbox for attempting to attack one of the Sentinels and escape. Later, Jubilee is thrown in the box for leading a failed revolt against the camp guards. However, both are soon rescued by Gambit.
In the episode Paradise of Deep Space Nine, Commander Benjamin Sisko is punished by extremists using a hot box.
In Seven Days, protagonist Frank B. Parker was punished by Somalian militants with a hot box. This incident caused him to be committed to a secret CIA mental asylum.
In The Longest Yard, the lead character Paul Crewe is thrown in a hot box for a week to coerce him to participate in the warden's football activities.
Gene Wilder's character was placed in a "hot box" in the film Stir Crazy.
In an episode of Batman: The Animated Series, Bruce Wayne is thrown in a sweat box while on an undercover case.
The movie Bridge on the River Kwai shows an attempt at coercing a British military officer into collaboration with the Japanese enemy.
Towards the end of Life is Beautiful, Joshua is told to stay in a sweatbox until all Germans have left in order to survive.
The movie Cool Hand Luke depicts a Florida prison warden who puts Paul Newman's character Lucas 'Luke' Jackson into The Box for refusing to submit to the system.
In the episode Mental as Anything of Farscape, John Crichton is subjected to a hot box as a method of developing a mental resistance to Scarran heat-based punishment.
Cat of CatDog is subjected to The Box for offending the proprietor of the city pool, which also doubled as a prison for pool rulebreakers.
Earl Hickey spends time in the hot box on the third season premiere of My Name is Earl, where he is reunited with a childhood acquaintance with a score to settle.
In the third season of Prison Break, main character Michael Scofield is placed inside a hot box.