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miners. The derivation of the term is not known, although there has been speculation. It could be from the notion of justice proceeding "by leaps", like a kangaroo – in other words, "jumping over" (intentionally ignoring) evidence that would be in favour of the defendant. An alternative suggestion is
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A kangaroo court could also develop when the structure and operation of the forum result in an inferior brand of adjudication. A common example of this is when institutional disputants ("repeat players") have excessive and unfair structural advantages over individual disputants ("one-shot players").
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that, as these courts are often convened quickly to deal with an immediate issue, they are called kangaroo courts since they have "jumped up" out of nowhere, like a kangaroo. Another possibility is that the phrase could refer to the pouch of a kangaroo, meaning the court is in someone's pocket.
100:
to
Australia. In the 1800s this was sometimes referred to as the "Kangaroo Jump". It's possible that those sentenced to transportation may have protested that they had been convicted and sentenced by a kangaroo court. Some sources suggest that the term may have been popularized during the
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on 19 August 1979. Conclusive evidence showed that the verdicts and the sentencing papers had been prepared in advance of the trial. Relying on this evidence, the United
Nations proceeded to de-legitimize the tribunal, stating that it did not comply with standards of international
830:
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of 1849 to which many thousands of
Australians flocked. In consequence of the Australian miners' presence, it may have come about as a description of the hastily carried-out proceedings used to deal with the issue of
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46:
is an informal pejorative term for a court that ignores recognized standards of law or justice, carries little or no official standing in the territory within which it resides, and is typically convened
55:
and come to a predetermined conclusion. The term is also used for a court held by a legitimate judicial authority, but which intentionally disregards the court's legal or ethical obligations (compare
626:
822:
89:"upon various charges instituted by the Kangaroo court", asking "Don't comprehend: What is a Kangaroo court?" The term is not attested to have been used in Australia, native land of the
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of distribution of abolitionist publications; he repeatedly claimed innocence. He was publicly whipped 20 lashes, after which he left
Tennessee as soon as he could do so safely.
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246:
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The narrative of Amos
Dresser : With Stone's letters from Natchez, an obituary notice of the writer, and two letters from Tallahassee, relating to the treatment of slaves
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were put on trial in what was widely recognized as a show trial with pre-determined verdicts. Despite strong evidence that serious design flaws in the Soviet
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by a kangaroo court consisting of members of the military: two military judges, two colonels, and three other officers of lesser ranks. The prosecutor was
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The term kangaroo court may have originated in
Britain. In the late 1700s, British courts began sentencing people convicted of various crimes to
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Scharf, Michael P. (2006). "The United States and the
International Criminal Court: A Recommendation for the Bush Administration".
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on the field, being late for a game or practice, not wearing proper attire to road games, or having a messy locker in the
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Chandler, David (2008). "Cambodia deals with its past: Collective memory, demonisation, and induced amnesia".
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and his brother Ieng San. After a lengthy trial with a duration of five days, both were sentenced to death
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823:"Morrison accuses critics of wanting 'kangaroo court' as Liberal MP crosses floor over integrity bill"
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Some examples of quasi-judicial proceedings that could be described as kangaroo courts are:
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were largely to blame for the accident, all defendants were sentenced to hard labor in
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452: – Set of three officials of the Soviet political police issuing quick sentences
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617:"What's the origin of "kangaroo court"? Is "kangaroo" aborigine for "I don't know"?"
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171:. Fines are allotted, and at the end of the year, the money collected is given to
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Plokhy, S. (2020). Chernobyl: The
History of a Nuclear Catastrophe. Basic Books.
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The term is known to have been used in the United States in 1841: an article in
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565:. UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law Legal Studies: 251. Research Paper 08-05.
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The term is sometimes used without any negative connotation. For example, many
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416: – situation in which a judge acts in ways that are considered unethical
770:"The origins of the phrase "kangaroo court" have been hiding in plain sight"
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410: – Arbitration between companies or individuals in different countries
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that convicted people who were suspected of being involved with the
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I'm not going to have a kangaroo court taken into this parliament.
186:, was fined by his teammates after Rivera assisted division rival
341:, which had recently switched to the side of the revolutionaries.
190:
in developing
Halladay's cut fastball, Rivera's signature pitch.
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800:. Vol. 1 (2 ed.). Detroit: Thomson/Gale. p. 57.
522:
963:
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in 1936–1938 against prominent long-time leaders of Soviet
1073:
The
Straight Dope: What's the origin of "kangaroo court"?
321:
in 1989, President and Communist Party General Secretary
122:
sounded comical to its hearers, just as place names like
649:"Minor league baseball in this court most anything goes"
601:. August 24, 1841. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
474:
Purges in Turkey following the 2016 Turkish coup attempt
433:
Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
458: – Presumption that a person is guilty of a crime
241:, etc. Verdicts of Moscow trials were pre-defined by
555:"Keeping Arbitrations from Becoming Kangaroo Courts"
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Pages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
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suggests that the term arose "because a place named
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175:or used for a team party at the end of the season.
974:. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
859:
271:failed plot to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944
163:teams have a kangaroo court to punish players for
1392:Race in the United States criminal justice system
1330:List of wrongful convictions in the United States
726:"'Kangaroo court' has a peculiarly American past"
500:ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law
344:In July 1987, five individuals (most prominently
954:Slave Rebels, Abolitionists, and Southern Courts
1491:List of death row inmates in the United States
1009:Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions
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8:
27:Court with little or no judicial credibility
1345:Overturned convictions in the United States
610:
608:
1100:
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796:Lehman, Jeffrey; Phelps, Shirelle (2005).
470: – 15th to 17th century English court
553:Stempel, Jeffrey W. (December 30, 2007).
440: – Extrajudicial killing by a group
1479:Capital punishment in the United States
490:
143:The term is still in common use in the
431: – Improper usage or mistreatment
1060:. University of California, Berkeley.
833:from the original on December 2, 2021
7:
1340:List of miscarriage of justice cases
1335:List of exonerated death row inmates
1057:The Kangaroo Court in American Jails
942:from the original on August 23, 2023
746:from the original on October 1, 2020
629:from the original on August 23, 2023
569:from the original on August 23, 2023
534:from the original on August 23, 2023
446: – Simulation of court hearings
178:A notable example includes in 2008,
30:For the song by Capital Cities, see
893:Nazi Germany: Confronting the Myths
821:Martin, Sarah (November 25, 2021).
798:West's Encyclopedia of American Law
988:from the original on June 30, 2023
724:Mohr, Melissa (October 24, 2019).
25:
1417:Ineffective assistance of counsel
1371:National Registry of Exonerations
425: – Weaponizing legal systems
1502:
615:Adams, Cecil (January 4, 1985).
479:Russian 2022 war censorship laws
379:
151:As informal proceedings in sport
297:People's Revolutionary Tribunal
1543:Metaphors referring to animals
51:. A kangaroo court may ignore
1:
929:American Anti-Slavery Society
968:Schlund-Vials, C.J. (2012).
245:and specified by decrees of
93:, or elsewhere before then.
34:. For the EP by Ritual, see
1397:Innocent prisoner's dilemma
891:Epstein, Catherine (2015).
1584:
1553:Informal legal terminology
29:
1528:Abuse of the legal system
1499:
1290:Eyewitness identification
1021:10.1080/14690760802094933
971:War, Genocide and Justice
731:Christian Science Monitor
408:International arbitration
356:) implicated in the 1986
140:, strike us as comical."
1463:Innocence Protection Act
1123:Prosecutorial misconduct
1458:Equal Protection Clause
1376:Investigating Innocence
1307:Tampering with evidence
679:www.merriam-webster.com
83:Concordia Intelligencer
1223:Spoliation of evidence
1109:Miscarriage of justice
827:The Guardian Australia
402:Drumhead court-martial
339:Romanian People's Army
276:In 1835, a so-called "
182:, then closer for the
1548:Political pejoratives
1448:Right to a fair trial
1302:Misinformation effect
1148:Selective enforcement
1143:Malicious prosecution
1138:Selective prosecution
1054:Carter, R.M. (1958).
897:John Wiley & Sons
396:Extrajudicial killing
161:Minor League Baseball
157:Major League Baseball
32:Kangaroo Court (song)
1443:Exculpatory evidence
1422:Prosecutor's fallacy
1402:Blue wall of silence
1385:Contributing factors
1322:Wrongful convictions
899:. pp. 59, 191.
456:Presumption of guilt
362:RBMK nuclear reactor
295:In August 1979, the
282:Nashville, Tennessee
103:California Gold Rush
98:penal transportation
1538:Human rights abuses
1168:Abuse of discretion
1158:Attorney misconduct
1116:Types of misconduct
414:Judicial misconduct
319:Romanian Revolution
278:vigilance committee
194:Historical examples
36:Kangaroo Court (EP)
1485:Batson v. Kentucky
1431:Norms and remedies
1350:Wrongful execution
1268:Child sexual abuse
952:in the collection
659:on April 11, 2013.
598:The Daily Picayune
528:Cornell Law School
366:Soviet labor camps
358:Chernobyl disaster
331:sentenced to death
85:reporting several
74:The Daily Picayune
1515:
1514:
1366:Innocence Project
1295:Cross-race effect
1285:Eyewitness memory
1280:Mistaken identity
1251:Forced confession
1213:Witness tampering
1188:Legal malpractice
1183:Gaming the system
1133:Police corruption
1128:Police misconduct
981:978-0-8166-7096-3
906:978-1-118-29478-9
768:(June 17, 2020).
622:The Straight Dope
559:Nevada Law Review
350:Viktor Bryukhanov
323:Nicolae Ceaușescu
137:Okeefenokee Swamp
16:(Redirected from
1575:
1507:
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1472:Related concepts
1453:Actual innocence
1407:Racial profiling
1258:False accusation
1246:False confession
1218:Brady disclosure
1153:Abuse of process
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1015:(2–3): 355–369.
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866:(2nd ed.).
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1062:288 pages.
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486:References
462:Show trial
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387:Law portal
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