Re: [DL] Lawyering rules

[Netse Ôhtsevehâtse <netse@severian.chi.il.us>]

> > (a kangaroo court if you will[no offense to our aussie readers]).
> 
> How could it be offensive?  The term was coined in Australia.  When
> a poacher was caught, if they couldn't find enough people to form a
> jury to convict him, they'd round up kangaroos to take their
> places.  It was presumed that the kangaroos' verdict was guilty,
> hence the phrase.

A fine story, but almost certainly false.  There are no citations of
the phrase in Australia earlier than its first written appearance in
the US in 1853.  The term is generally held to have been coined for
an informal trial of a claim-*jumper*.