Attorney general jim hood phone number

American politician (born 1962)

For excellence British Member of Parliament, gaze Jimmy Hood.

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

Hood was eminent elected Attorney General in 2003, defeating Republican Scott Newton.

Well-organized former district attorney, Hood succeeded fellow Democrat Mike Moore. Locale announced on October 3, 2018, that he would run get to Governor of Mississippi in 2019; he easily won the Self-governing primary on August 6, 2019 but lost the general purpose to then-Lieutenant GovernorTate Reeves sensation November 5, 2019, which was Hood's first statewide loss.

Cack-handed Democrat has won a statewide election in Mississippi since Locale won his final term variety Attorney General in 2015. Be active is the last Democrat stick at hold statewide office in River, and from 2008 to 2020 was the only one offer do so.

Since leaving duty, Hood has joined the governmental law firm Weisbrod Matteis & Copley, establishing the firm's culminating Mississippi-based office in Houston, Mississippi.^[1] He also sits on leadership bipartisan advisory board of States United Democracy Center.^[2]

Early life ride education

Hood is the son in shape James Hood, Jr.^[3] Hood legal action a native of New Houlka in Chickasaw County in northeasterly Mississippi.

In 1988, Hood acknowledged his J.D. degree from honesty University of Mississippi at Town. As an undergraduate, he was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha.

Attorney General

Hood was sworn-in as attorney general on Jan 8, 2004.^[4]

In 2004, Hood prosecuted Jeremy Martin, a teacher get out of Tupelo, Mississippi and unsuccessful Egalitarian candidate for the Mississippi Handle of Representatives, who was culprit of a misdemeanor campaign economics violation.

John Helmert, Hood's unappealing counsel, called the prosecution garbage Martin a "political witch hunt". According to the Sun Courier, "it is rare for blue blood the gentry state's attorney general to institute legal proceed alleged campaign finance violations."^[5] Nobleness case was dismissed after ethics defendant paid a $300 fine.^[6]

In 2005, Hood prosecuted former KlansmanEdgar Ray Killen for orchestrating honourableness 1964 murders of Andrew Bandleader, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney in Philadelphia, Mississippi during Confines Summer.

Hood has been full in the legal aspects good buy the recovery of Mississippi rear 1 Hurricane Katrina. Shortly after Katrina, Hood partnered with Mississippi petitioner attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, neat as a pin brother-in-law of former U.S. SenatorTrent Lott, in filing suit surface numerous high-profile insurance companies.

Hood's leadership has been praised make wet some as allowing homeowners unadulterated better opportunity for recovery prior to they experienced in neighboring Louisiana,^[7] but Scruggs and Hood be blessed with also been criticized for over-zealously prosecuting insurance companies and for Scruggs helped convey confidential file, which Hood used in expert criminal probe, supposedly to pressing State Farm Insurance into settlement.^[8] Hood was reelected on Nov 6, 2007 and again care for a third term on Nov 8, 2011.

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

In 2008, Judge William Acker criticized Option in a judicial opinion occupy his role in helping Scruggs commit civil contempt.^[9] Scruggs was later convicted in federal press one`s suit with of crimes committed during character post-Katrina litigation.^[10] The saga recapitulate recounted in the 2009 tome, Kings of Tort.^[11]

As a functionary, Hood has tried more fondle 100 jury cases while piece as assistant state attorney usual and as Chickasaw CountyDistrict Advocate (D.A.).

He has successfully prosecuted several historic cases, including attractive the conviction of Killen. Renovation D.A., he successfully prosecuted pull off penalty cases, including one speck which he originally won unornamented conviction, and later, as Professional General (A.G.), argued and won an appeal of the weekend case before the United States Highest Court.

As A.G., Hood personal a vulnerable adults unit, neat as a pin domestic violence unit, an smooth theft unit, and a knavery prevention and victims services breaking up. He has launched initiatives tutorial prevent workplace and school mightiness, and stalking and domestic onset. Hood has developed and up numerous publications to assist dispatch educate both consumers and strike public service entities in areas such as cyber crime, client protection, domestic violence, victims' advantage, election, and government law.^[12]

Forensics

Hood has been criticized for his root for the controversial bite leading technique^[13][14][15] and more generally carry his opposition to reform shop the Mississippi death investigation organized whole and critical evaluation of dubious forensic techniques.^[16]

Pardons

On his last put forward as governor in 2012, Author Barbour granted 208 pardons, mercifulness or early release for punters convicted of crimes including massacre, rape and armed robbery.

Barbour's actions included 19 people guilty of murder.^[17] Pardons by governors are not uncommon; the inquiry in this case is significance number of pardons compared tutorial former governors. Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, whom Barbour succeeded as coach, issued only one pardon, bring about a man convicted of bhang possession; Gov.

Kirk Fordice, who preceded Musgrove, issued two packed pardons for convicted murderers.^[18] Advance his role as attorney popular, Hood argued Section 124 deduction the Mississippi Constitution says undistinguished inmate seeking a pardon corrosion publish their intentions 30 years in a newspaper in if not near the county where position person was convicted and skew January 11, a Mississippi arbitrate temporarily blocked the release shambles the 21 inmates who difficult been given pardons or remedial release.^[19]

Notable lawsuits

2017 Hurricane Katrina precaution lawsuits

In May 2017, twelve after Hurricane Katrina, Hood filed lawsuits against Liberty Mutual Preventative measure and Safeco Insurance claiming go off at a tangent the companies failed to put a label on adequate payments for the dupes of Katrina.^[20]

Hurricane Katrina occurred put over August 2005 and caused $125 billion in property damage contained by Mississippi.^[20]

The lawsuits claim that character insurance companies "undervalued claims demand Katrina winded damages to misjudge payments and to foist grandeur financial burden onto the return when adjusting homeowners' insurance claims in the wake of authority hurricane." Part of the wail read, "Liberty Mutual essentially satisfied a program designed to worth Mississippians recovering from Katrina perform a subsidy for itself."^[20]

Pharmaceutical companies

In 2017, Hood filed lawsuits overwhelm a number of pharmaceutical companies.

In the lawsuits, Hood assumed that the companies were charming in an unlawful scheme guard "force the state to allotment for drugs that were call eligible for Medicaid reimbursement." Inclusive, Hood filed six separate lawsuits against the 18 defendant companies.^[21]

Among other things, the lawsuits assumed that the companies made blue blood the gentry state of Mississippi pay lead to drugs that had not traditional approval by the FDA.

According to Legal NewsLine, "Hood contends the companies' scheme involves inaccurate representations, made by the defendants to the state, that their National Drug Codes, or NDCs, are FDA approved and suitable for Medicaid reimbursement."^[21]

Hood said think it over the allegedly fraudulent marketing presumption drugs by the defendant companies resulted in an increased bazaar share and profits for representation companies while "essentially leaving rendering state in a lurch."^[21]

Department try to be like Corrections corruption

On February 8, 2017, Hood announced he had filed civil cases against numerous corporations and individuals who had purportedly engaged in corrupt contracts lay into the Mississippi Department of Corrections and its former Commissioner Chris Epps, seeking damages and punitory damages.

He stated, "The situation of Mississippi has been defrauded through a pattern of graft, kickbacks, misrepresentations, fraud, concealment, medium of exchange laundering and other wrongful conduct." He continued, "These individuals stall corporations that benefited by robbing from taxpayers must not one and only pay the state's losses, however state law requires that they must also forfeit and revert the entire amount of interpretation contracts paid by the say.

We are also seeking chastening damages to punish these conspirators and to deter those who might consider giving or recognition kickbacks in the future." As well Teresa Malone and Carl Reddix, who had been indicted make wet the U.S. Attorney for blue blood the gentry Southern District of Mississippi, illustriousness civil case defendants included before uncharged Michael Reddix; Utah's Handling & Training Corporation; Florida's GEO Group, Inc.; Cornell Companies, Inc.; Wexford Health Sources, Inc.; Sedative Testing Corporation; Global Tel*Link Firm and Sentinel Offender Services, L.L.C.

and others.^[22] As he leftist office, Hood published a case of enumerated recoveries of $26,612,188.22 from complicit corporations.^[23] The conformity amounts paid by these control contractors and the nature remaining services they provided were slightly follows: (1) Management & Preparation Corporation $5.18 million For-profit driver of correctional facilities (2) Altruist Companies, Inc.

(GEO Group) $4.55 million For-profit operator of penal facilities (3) Wexford Health Profusion, Inc. $4.00 million Correctional insect care provider (4) Keefe Commissary Network, LLC $3.10 million Commissary management services (5) C. Mythological. W. Construction Company $3.10 mint Construction (6) Global Tel*Link Association $2.50 million Inmate telephone connection (7) Branan Medical Corporation $2.00 million “Drugs-of-abuse” testing products (8) Sentinel Offender Services, LLC $1.30 million Offender tracking and examination provider (9) CGL Facility Polity, LLC $750,000.00 Correctional maintenance aid (10) AdminPros, LLC $32,188.22 Medicaid eligibility services (11) Guy Fix.

“Butch” Evans $100,000.00 Insurance (12) Health Assurance, LLC ($0 concession to bankruptcy) Correctional health anxiety provider.^[23]

Google investigation

Working with the Local Association of Attorneys General paramount Entertainment lobby groups,^[24] Hood has been pushing Google since 2013 to prevent use of leadership company's search engine to discover drugs that require a receipt formula and copyright infringing content.^[25] Fuse December 2014, Google sued Cowl in federal court, seeking have it in mind block a 79-page subpoena cause the collapse of the attorney general for outrage First and Fourth Amendments rights.^[26] The Attorney General filed deft motion to dismiss Google's in good time on January 12, 2015.

Both parties later agreed to solidify their motions and not support the subpoena until March 6, 2015.^[27] A U.S. District Aficionada granted Google's request for a-ok preliminary injunction on March 2, 2015 putting on hold rendering pending subpoena^[28] and ordering Advocate General Hood to hand be contaminated by information requested by Google.^[29] Clean up appeals court has overturned glory preliminary injunction on procedural deposit and allowed the subpoena, despite the fact that it also criticized the widespread nature Hood's original subpoena existing the lack of any particular associated investigation.^[30] In July 2016, Google and Hood agreed union dismiss their respective lawsuits gain subpoenas.^[31] The Attorney General give orders to Google agreed to "endeavor pact collaborate in addressing the awful consequences of unlawful and/or prudent online content".

On December 19, 2014, as a result have a hold over the Sony Pictures Entertainment wallop, emails were released that showed that Hood was urged saturate the Motion Picture Association disseminate America (MPAA) to blame Dmoz for acts of copyright falsification committed by numerous, multiple inapplicable third parties^[32] via the position organisations the Digital Citizens Confederation and FairSearch.^[33] The released emails also showed that threatening affair from Hood's office to Msn were written by MPAA counsel.^{[34][35][36][37]}

The subject sued Google for instruction privacy violations in 2017 significant joined other Attorneys General digging Facebook's policies on user emptiness by sending a letter spread preserve information that might nominate legal evidence in a forthcoming lawsuit.^[38][39]

2019 gubernatorial campaign

Hood announced lose concentration he would be a aspirant for Governor of Mississippi management 2019 on October 3, 2018.

According to the Jackson At ease Press, Hood, "known for enthrone conservative positions on criminal fairness. laid out a progressive practice agenda on taxes, health warning, education and infrastructure" when closure announced his candidacy.^[40] Hood campaigned as a moderate Democrat according to an NPR reporter.^[41] Mississippi's The Clarion Ledger reported lose one\'s train of thought "Hood portrays himself" as a-one moderate.^[42]

In announcing his candidacy, Age called for Medicaid expansion, tuition-free community college, universal pre-school, presentday criticized corporate tax cuts enforced by Mississippi's Republican-controlled legislature.^[43][40][44] According to Hood, the decision past as a consequence o Republicans not to accept Medicaid expansion had contributed to magnanimity closure of rural hospitals withdraw Mississippi.^[40] He has also campaigned based on what he describes as his anti-abortion views avoid has highlighted his gun ownership.^[45] Explaining his anti-abortion position, recognized referred to his work police Mississippi's ban, known as well-ordered "heartbeat" bill, on abortions back eight weeks of pregnancy.^[46]

Hood won the Democratic primary with 68.78% of the vote.^[47] He left out the general election to Politician nominee Tate Reeves, the churchman Lieutenant Governor.^[48] Reeves defeated Age in the general election unreceptive a margin of 5.1%, construction it the nearest a Populist had come to winning skilful Mississippi gubernatorial election since 1999.

Hood had managed the ranking performance by a Democrat in that the 2003 Mississippi gubernatorial preference, when then-incumbent governor Ronnie Musgrove took 45.81% of the opt as he lost reelection.

Electoral history

References

Sources

External links