where does the phrase kangaroo court come from
Kangaroo court The term kangaroo court is often erroneously believed to have its origin from Australia's courts while it was a penal colony.[3] However, the first published instance of the term is from an American source in the year 1853.[4] Some sources suggest that it may have been popularized during the California Gold Rush of 1849, along with mustang court,[5] as a description of the hastily carried-out proceedings used to deal with the issue of claim jumping miners.[3] Ostensibly the term comes from the notion of justice proceeding "by leaps", like a kangaroo[6] â€“ in other words, "jumping over" (intentionally ignoring) evidence that would be in favour of the defendant. Another possibility is that the phrase could refer to the pouch of a kangaroo, meaning the court is in someone's pocket. The phrase is popular in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand and is still in common use.[7]