A kangaroo court refers to a court that either:
1. Ignores the standards of justice and does not carry any official standing in the area in which it resides
or it may refer to
2. A court which holds legal authority but which ignores legal and ethical responsibilities
Basically, one can expect little to no true justice from a kangaroo court.
No one knows for certain, but the phrase kangaroo court likely originated in Mississippi in1841. The first written documentation of kangaroo court was in the Daily Picayune, in a newspaper article which used the term to describe the lynching of three colored folks upon "the various charges of the kangaroo court." I suspect that no judge was involved beyond some white men who thought any authority was their right to exercise, a pattern of violence and abuse that continues today.
Just as a kangaroo hops from place to place, itinerant judges of the American frontier seemed to bound from place to place with a stronger desire for racking up case numbers than for delivering ethical and well-reasoned judgement. For those of you who prefer a very short video explanation of a kangaroo court, please follow this link.
May you never experience the injustice of a kangaroo court or participate in the amoral actions of one.
-C