Jim Hood

James Matthew Hood (born May 15, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 39th Attorney General of Mississippi from 2004 to 2020.

In 1988, Hood received his J.D. degree from the University of Mississippi at Oxford.

As an undergraduate, he was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha.

A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected in 2003, defeating Republican Scott Newton.

A former district attorney, Hood succeeded fellow Democrat Mike Moore.

Hood was sworn-in as attorney general on January 8, 2004.

In 2004, Hood prosecuted Jeremy Martin, a teacher from Tupelo, Mississippi and unsuccessful Republican candidate for the Mississippi House of Representatives, who was accused of a misdemeanor campaign finance violation.

John Helmert, Hood's opposing counsel, called the prosecution of Martin a "political witch hunt".

According to the Sun Herald, "it is rare for the state's attorney general to prosecute alleged campaign finance violations."

The case was dismissed after the defendant paid a $300 fine.

In 2005, Hood prosecuted former Klansman Edgar Ray Killen for orchestrating the 1964 murders of Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney in Philadelphia, Mississippi during Freedom Summer.

Hood has been active in the legal aspects of the recovery of Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.

Shortly after Katrina, Hood partnered with Mississippi plaintiff attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, a brother-in-law of former U.S. Senator Trent Lott, in filing suit against numerous high-profile insurance companies.

Hood's leadership has been praised by some as allowing homeowners a better opportunity for recovery than they experienced in neighboring Louisiana, but Scruggs and Hood have also been criticized for over-zealously prosecuting insurance companies and because Scruggs helped convey confidential documents, which Hood used in a criminal probe, supposedly to pressure State Farm Insurance into settlement.

Hurricane Katrina occurred in August 2005 and caused $125 billion in property damage within Mississippi.

The lawsuits claim that the insurance companies "undervalued claims for Katrina winded damages to minimize payments and to foist the financial burden onto the state when adjusting homeowners' insurance claims in the wake of the hurricane."

Hood was reelected on November 6, 2007 and again for a third term on November 8, 2011.

He was the only Democrat holding statewide elected office in Mississippi from 2008 to 2020, and remains the most recent to do so.

Since leaving office, Hood has joined the national law firm Weisbrod Matteis & Copley, establishing the firm's first Mississippi-based office in Houston, Mississippi.

He also sits on the bipartisan advisory board of States United Democracy Center.

Hood is the son of James Hood, Jr. Hood is a native of New Houlka in Chickasaw County in northeastern Mississippi.

In 2008, Judge William Acker criticized Hood in a judicial opinion for his role in helping Scruggs commit civil contempt.

Scruggs was later convicted in federal court of crimes committed during the post-Katrina litigation.

The saga is recounted in the 2009 book, Kings of Tort.

As a prosecutor, Hood has tried more than 100 jury cases while serving as assistant state attorney general and as Chickasaw County District Attorney (D.A.).

He has successfully prosecuted several historic cases, including winning the conviction of Killen.

As D.A., he successfully prosecuted death penalty cases, including one in which he originally won a conviction, and later, as Attorney General (A.G.), argued and won an appeal of the case before the United States Supreme Court.

As A.G., Hood established a vulnerable adults unit, a domestic violence unit, an identity theft unit, and a crime prevention and victims services division.

He has launched initiatives to prevent workplace and school violence, and stalking and domestic assault.

Hood has developed and distributed numerous publications to assist and educate both consumers and other public service entities in areas such as cyber crime, consumer protection, domestic violence, victims' assistance, election, and government law.

Hood has been criticized for his support for the controversial bite mark technique and more generally for his opposition to reform of the Mississippi death investigation system and critical evaluation of questionable forensic techniques.

On his last day as governor in 2012, Haley Barbour granted 208 pardons, clemency or early release for people convicted of crimes including murder, rape and armed robbery.

Barbour's actions included 19 people convicted of murder.

Pardons by governors are not uncommon; the issue in this case is the number of pardons compared to former governors.

Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, whom Barbour succeeded as governor, issued only one pardon, for a man convicted of marijuana possession; Gov. Kirk Fordice, who preceded Musgrove, issued two full pardons for convicted murderers.

In his role as attorney general, Hood argued Section 124 of the Mississippi Constitution says any inmate seeking a pardon must publish their intentions 30 days in a newspaper in or near the county where the person was convicted and on January 11, a Mississippi judge temporarily blocked the release of the 21 inmates who had been given pardons or medical release.

On November 3, 2015 Hood was reelected for his fourth term.

In May 2017, twelve years after Hurricane Katrina, Hood filed lawsuits against Liberty Mutual Insurance and Safeco Insurance claiming that the companies failed to make adequate payments for the victims of Katrina.

Hood announced on October 3, 2018, that he would run for Governor of Mississippi in 2019; he easily won the Democratic primary on August 6, 2019.

He lost the general election to Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves on November 5, 2019, which was his first statewide loss.