July 7, 2020: What is a Kangaroo Court?

A kangaroo court is a court which is not interested in true justice but in getting someone convicted for financial, personal, political or other reasons.

The name comes from early 19th century frontier US, where travelling judges were paid according to how many trials they conducted, which led to speedy trials and some judges hopping like a kangaroo from place to place to get more business, concerned more about their income than about court outcome.

The name is applied to places and situations where the rule of law is not followed and judges are required to return a preordained verdict.