Kangaroo court

A kangaroo court (also known as a kangaroo trial or a 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.

Related Topics:
Legal - Court - Judge - Recused

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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.

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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.

Related Topics:
Baseball - Error - Charity

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Although it might seem to have obviously been coined in Australia, the phrase seems to have originated during the California Gold Rush, with the first written reference in 1853. 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.

Related Topics:
Australia - California Gold Rush - 1853

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Examples of alleged kangaroo courts include the Kansas evolution hearings and the military court which sentenced Nicolae Ceau?escu to death.

Related Topics:
Kansas evolution hearings - Nicolae Ceau?escu

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