Kangaroo court
Kangaroo court is an informal pejorative term for a court that ignores recognized standards of law or justice, carries little or no official standing in the territory within which it resides, and is typically convened ad hoc.[1][2] A kangaroo court may ignore due process and come to a predetermined conclusion. The term is also used for a court held by a legitimate judicial authority, but which intentionally or structurally disregards the court's legal or ethical obligations (compare show trial).[3][4]
Etymology
[edit]The term is known to have been used in the United States in 1841: an article in The Daily Picayune, New Orleans quotes the Concordia Intelligencer reporting several lynchings "upon various charges instituted by the Kangaroo court", asking "Don't comprehend: What is a Kangaroo court?"[5] The term is not attested to have been used in Australia, native land of the kangaroo, or elsewhere before then.[6]
Some sources suggest that the term may have been popularized during the California Gold Rush of 1849 to which many thousands of Australians flocked. In consequence of the Australian miners' presence, it may have come about as a description of the hastily carried-out proceedings used to deal with the issue of claim-jumping miners.[6]
The derivation of the term is not known, although there has been speculation. One suggestion is that, as these courts are often convened quickly to deal with an immediate issue, they are called kangaroo courts since they have "jumped up" out of nowhere, like a kangaroo. Another possibility is that the phrase could refer to the pouch of a kangaroo, meaning the court is in someone's pocket.[7][8][9]
Etymologist Philologos suggests that the term arose "because a place named Kangaroo sounded comical to its hearers, just as place names like Kalamazoo, and Booger Hole, and Okeefenokee Swamp, strike us as comical."[10]
In 19th century America, an alternative term was "mustang" court, after horses that roamed the plains, thus evoking the image of a court presided over by a wild beast.[11]
The term is still in common use in the Anglosphere.[12]
As informal proceedings in sport
[edit]The term is sometimes used without any negative connotation. For example, many Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball teams have a kangaroo court to punish players for errors on the field, being late for a game or practice, not wearing proper attire to road games, or having a messy locker in the clubhouse. Fines are allotted, and at the end of the year, the money collected is given to charity or used for a team party at the end of the season.[13]
See also
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References
[edit]- ^ Scharf, Michael P. (2006). "The United States and the International Criminal Court: A Recommendation for the Bush Administration". ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law. 2: 385.
- ^ "What's the origin of "kangaroo court"? Is "kangaroo" aborigine for "I don't know"?". The Straight Dope. January 4, 1985. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
- ^ "Kangaroo court". Wex. Cornell Law School. Archived from the original on August 23, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
- ^ Stempel, Jeffrey W. (December 30, 2007). "Keeping Arbitrations from Becoming Kangaroo Courts". Nevada Law Review. 8. UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law Legal Studies: 251. Research Paper 08-05. Archived from the original on August 23, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
- ^ "What is a Kangaroo court, neighbor?". The Daily Picayune. August 24, 1841. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Adams, Cecil (January 4, 1985). "What's the origin of "kangaroo court"? Is "kangaroo" aborigine for "I don't know"?". The Straight Dope. Archived from the original on August 23, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
- ^ "Definition of kangaroo court". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ^ "Kangaroo court". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ^ Mohr, Melissa (October 24, 2019). "'Kangaroo court' has a peculiarly American past". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- ^ Philologos (June 17, 2020). "The origins of the phrase "kangaroo court" have been hiding in plain sight". Mosaic. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ Poole, Steven (October 10, 2019). "'Kangaroo court': what have marsupials got to do with White House politics?". the Guardian. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
- ^ Lehman, Jeffrey; Phelps, Shirelle (2005). West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Vol. 1 (2 ed.). Detroit: Thomson/Gale. p. 57. ISBN 9780787663742.
- ^ Bouton, Jim (1990). Ball Four (2nd ed.). Wiley. ISBN 0-02-030665-2.
Further reading
[edit]- Carter, R.M. (1958). The Kangaroo Court in American Jails. University of California, Berkeley. 288 pages.
External links
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