Jeff Gambrel, age 13, of Middletown, Ohio, for his question:

HOW DID THE `KANGAROO COURT' RECEIVE ITS NAME?

"Kangaroo court" is a slang name for an unauthorized gathering of persons who take the law into their own hands by acting as a court.

The term is most likely traced back to the pioneer days of Kansas and Ohio. Pioneer judges traveled from place to place handling trials summarily, and were paid with the fines from the convicted prisoners.

These early legal leaps from place to place gave rise to the term kangaroo court.

Critics of lawfully appointed courts have often used the kangaroo court term to indicate their dissatisfaction with the judgments of such courts.

Early courts of justice often disregarded the principles of law and justice and tended to impose unfair or intemperate punishments.