kangaroo court

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English

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WOTD – 12 August 2023

Etymology

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From kangaroo +‎ court. The etymology is uncertain; it has been suggested that the term draws a comparison between the leaping of a kangaroo and one of the following:

  • The 19th-century practice of itinerant judges moving from place to place on the American frontier and trying cases speedily and perfunctorily in order to get paid.[1]
  • The use of irregular courts during the California Gold Rush (1848–1855) to decide claims of “jumping” (illegally occupying) mining claims.[2][3]
  • The notion that a kangaroo court jumps to conclusions.[3]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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kangaroo court (plural kangaroo courts)

  1. (originally US, idiomatic) A judicial or quasi-judicial proceeding, or a group of people which conducts such proceedings, which is without proper authority, and often acts abusively or decides unjustly. [from mid 19th c.]
    • 1841 August 24, “Don’t comprehend”, in C. M. Price, G. R. Fall, editors, The Daily Picayune, volume V, number 179, New Orleans, La.: Lumsden, Kendall & Co., →OCLC, page 2, column 5:
      The Concordia Intelligencer says "several loafers were lynched in Natchez last week upon various charges instituted by the Kangaroo court. […]" What is a Kangaroo court, neighbor?
    • 1848 December 1, W. P. Andrews, “[Letter to the editors]”, in The Mississippian, volume XVIII, number 3, Jackson, Miss.: [G. R. Fall and J. Marshall], published 12 January 1849, →OCLC, page 3, column 2:
      On the evening succeeding the election, a meeting was gotten up some what in imitation of a "Kangaroo Court," for the purpose of trying three individuals, […]
    • 1853, Philip Paxton [pseudonym], “Term Time in the Backwoods, and a Mestang Court”, in A Stray Yankee in Texas, New York, N.Y.: Redfield, […], →OCLC, page 205:
      One of the principal amusements of the bar during these sessions of the court, is to assemble in some sufficiently capacious room, and after indulging in all the boyish games that occur to them, to institute mock proceedings against some one of their number, for some ridiculous, imaginary offence. […] By an unanimous vote, Judge G.—the fattest and funniest of the assembly—was elected to the bench, and the "Mestang" [i.e., mustang] or "Kangaroo Court" regularly organized.
    • 1856, Charles Summerfield [pseudonym; Alfred W. Arrington], “The Trial—An Execution”, in The Rangers and Regulators of the Tanaha: Or, Life among the Lawless. A Tale of the Republic of Texas, New York: Robert M. De Witt, […], →OCLC, page 247:
      Sol Tuttle interposed; "Don't you let nobody hev any witnesses i[n] this kangaroo court?"
    • 1858 July 14, Theodoric F. Sorrells, “To the Voters of the Second Judicial Circuit [letter]”, in C. C. Danley, editor, Arkansas State Gazette and Democrat, volume XXXIX, number 24 (Gazette); volume XIII, number 3 (Democrat), Little Rock, Ark.: W. F. Holtzmann, →OCLC, page 3, column 3:
      He [Judge Murray] endeavors to place me in the position of having assailed him, by describing the courts held by him as Kangaroo courts, and imputes to me a settled purpose to alienate all social and friendly relations, between the bench, bar, officers of the court, and all others, who come in direct contact with the courts. Now, all this is simply untrue, as well as ridiculous.
    • 1893 March 10, “Scotch verdict”, in M[arshall] M. Murdock, editor, The Wichita Eagle, volume XXI, number 52, Wichita, Kan.: [M. M. Murdock], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6, column 7:
      [A]bout twenty prisoners were confined in the city prison at the time and were all more or less drunk on white line (alcohol) furnished through the window by outside parties; […] two kangaroo courts were held the day on which Varnoff was convicted of violating the prison rules, was fined 50 cents each time and searched by officers of the court.
    • 1933 April 10, “The New Pictures: M by Fritz Lang”, in Time‎[2], New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-04-15:
      They take him off to face their kangaroo court in the cellar of a deserted brewery.
    • 1951 April 23, William O[rville] Douglas, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States, “Williams v. United States”, in Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (341 U.S. 97, 71 S. Ct. 576, 95 L. Ed. 774)‎[3], archived from the original on 2022-08-29, paragraph 8:
      [W]here police take matters in their own hands, seize victims, beat and pound them until they confess, there cannot be the slightest doubt that the police have deprived the victim of a right under the Constitution. It is the right of the accused to be tried by a legally constituted court, not by a kangaroo court.
    • 2003 December, David Glazier, “Kangaroo Court or Competent Tribunal?: Judging the 21st Century Military Commission”, in Virginia Law Review‎[4], volume 89, number 8, Charlottesville, Va.: Virginia Law Review Association, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2093:
      A military commission trial falling short of the full UCMJ standard is all but certain to be pejoratively judged as a "kangaroo court" in the court of public opinion.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ “kangaroo court”, in Encyclopedia.com, 2018 May 29; quoting Jeffrey Lehman, Shirelle Phelps, West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, 2nd edition, volumes 6 (Jap–Ma), Detroit, Mich.: Thomson/Gale, 2005, →ISBN.
  2. ^ “kangaroo court”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Melissa Mohr (2019 October 24) “In a word: ‘Kangaroo court’ has a peculiarly American past”, in The Christian Science Monitor‎[1], Boston, Mass.: Christian Science Publishing Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-04-16.

Further reading

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