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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for April 26, 1999
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kangaroo court [n. KANG-guh-ROO KORT]
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A kangaroo court is a mock or illegal court that is set up in
violation of established legal procedure, or it is one that is
characterized by dishonesty or incompetence. Example: "The impromptu
civil trials of the Gold Rush days were little more than kangaroo
courts."
You might expect that this term originated in Australia, the land of
kangaroos, but it seems to be of American origin. It first appeared
in the early 1850s in the far western US. It may have originated
during the California Gold Rush, possibly in connection with
Australian prospectors, many of whom arrived during that time.
It is not known how this meaning evolved. One theory is that a
"kangaroo court" was a court in which legal procedures were largely a
sham, and the action "jumped" quickly from accusation to sentencing
without due process. Another idea is that "kangaroo" was a reference
to Australian "claim jumpers," prospectors who illegally mined
someone else's claim.
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