Hood unveils plans to fight crime, make state safer

By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
Sept. 11, 2003
Democratic attorney general candidate Jim Hood of Houston unveiled a 10-point plan Wednesday on the steps of the Lauderdale County Courthouse that he said will make Mississippi safer.
Hood made the same announcement at campaign stops in Houston, Hattiesburg and Gulfport, and said experience is the issue in the attorney general's race.
Hood has been district attorney for the 3rd Circuit Court District since 1995. The district includes Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Lafayette, Marshall, Tippah and Union counties. He previously worked as a Supreme Court law clerk for one year and he served five years as an assistant attorney general.
The 10 points Hood described as his "hit-the-ground-running plan," addressed violent crime, crime victims, school safety, drug abuse, public corruption, consumer protection, computer crimes, senior citizens, domestic violence and child support.
If elected, Hood said he would be more aggressive in the collection of child support and would crack down on Internet child pornography and identity theft.
Hood also proposed a five-year mandatory additional sentence for crimes committed with a gun; training businesses to identify people who may commit violence in the workplace; and speeding up the death penalty by using more attorneys to handle cases in the attorney general's office.
Hood will face Republican candidate Scott Newton in the Nov. 4 general election. Contacted by phone Wednesday, Newton's campaign manager, Neil Forbes, said Newton was unavailable for comment but agreed that experience is a major issue in the race.