Kangaroo Court

"Kangaroo court" refers to a system which is a mockery of justice, of which its purpose is to deliver to the accused - in a formal manner - a means of punishment via an illegal, unjust trial within a staged court. In a kangaroo court the verdict and sentence is known in advance, with the "court" merely serving as the means of its delivery.

The first application of the term dates from 1853 in the United States, immediately following the California Gold Rush of 1849. A term with essentially the same meaning used during that time was "mustang court"^[1], describing cavalier procedures for settling disputes involving gold panning and mining. How it was replaced with the more apt "kangaroo" synonym is unknown, but the intent was to describe the actions of the judges involved, who were more interested in resolving cases quickly then in applying actual judicial procedures needed, and moving - i.e. "hopping" - quickly from town to town. The term is still in common use in Great Britain, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and still gives rise to satirical caricatures.

That a kangaroo court is dangerous wherever it may be applied is beyond dispute. In the case of Williams vs. United States, in which confessions were illegally obtained via torture under the color of law, Associate Justice William O. Douglas once wrote, "But where 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"^[2].

References[edit]

• Williams v. United States, 341 U.S. 97, 71 S. Ct. 576, 95 L. Ed. 774 [1951]