Kangaroo court

A kangaroo court is a 'judicial' proceeding that denies proper procedure in the name of expediency; a fraudulent or unjust trial where the decision has essentially been made in advance, usually for the purpose of providing a conviction, either going through the motions of manipulated procedure or allowing no defence at all.

(Mock) justice

A kangaroo court or kangaroo trial, also known as drumhead court-martial or Drumhead trial, is a sham legal proceeding or court. The term is often applied to courts subjectively judged as such, while others consider the court to be legitimate and legal. A kangaroo court may be a court that has had its integrity compromised; for example, if the judge is not impartial and refuses to be recused.

It may also be an elaborately scripted event intended to appear fair while having the outcome predetermined from the start. Terms meaning "show trial", like the German Schauprozess, indicate the result is fixed before (usually guilty): the "trial" is just for show. One example is Stalin's kangaroo trials against his enemies, whom he labeled enemies of the people and the party, notably in the context of the Great Purge. Another example is Roland Freisler's "processes" against the enemies of the national-socialist regime.

The term seems not to have originated from Australia, the homeland of kangaroos. Evidence indicates the term originated during the California Gold Rush, with the first written reference in 1853 in a Texas context (also mustang court), from the notion of proceeding "by leaps" like the agile marsupial. It is possible that the phrase arose out of a combination of informal courts convened to deal with "claim jumpers," the many Australian participants in the Gold Rush and a bit of word play.

Examples of alleged kangaroo courts amounting to "judicial lynching" include the Kansas evolution hearings.[1]

Other uses

• Kangaroo court is also used as a derogatory term to describe the dispute resolution mechanism used by prison inmates within the prison, based upon the pecking order of the prisoners.
• The term is sometimes used without any negative connotation. For example, a baseball team might have a kangaroo court to punish players for errors and other mistakes on the field. Fines are allotted, and at the end of the year, the money collected is given to charity. The organization may also use the money for a team party at the end of the season.
• The formal name of an initiation practice for freshmen at Quincy University, Illinois, consisting of various forms of hazing in a single public event.
• The video game magazine Amiga Power had a feature called 'Kangaroo Court' in its later years, criticising game features it disliked, such as contrived fantasy plots and games which were inferior clones of other games.

See also

• Lynching
• Show trial
• Court is one collective noun for a mob or troop of kangaroos

Kangaroo Court was a popular Primary School text in Australia. It also spawned a short lived cartoon series featuring charaters from the text, ie. a tiger snake etc.

Sources and External links

• Etymology Online
• The Straight Dope: What's the origin of "kangaroo court"?