Joseph Martin Hood
Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and confirmed by voice vote, Joseph Martin Hood is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. He earned a law degree from University of Kentucky College of Law in 1972. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1942 · age 84
- Appointed by
- George H.W. Bush, 1990
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Kentucky 1965 · University of Kentucky College of Law 1972
- Succeeded
- Scott Elgin Reed
- Succeeded by
- Amul Roger Thapar
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Eastern District of Kentucky succeeded Scott Elgin Reed | G.H.W. Bush (R) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
| University of Kentucky | B.S. | 1965 |
| University of Kentucky College of Law | J.D. | 1972 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Hood was assigned 5,281 district-court cases (1976–2022). Median time from filing to termination: 193 days across 5,275 closed cases.
Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.
On appeal
Of 334 of Hood’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 280 were affirmed, 36 reversed or vacated, and 18 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.
In our data, Hood authored 151 published opinions for the court (1990–2011). Most cited: Olinger Ex Rel. \ (94 citations).
A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Recent & notable rulings
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Olinger Ex Rel. \ | 521 F. Supp. 2d 577 | 94 |
| 2005 | Kentucky Press Ass'n, Inc. v. Kentucky | 355 F. Supp. 2d 853 | 54 |
| 2001 | Salisbury v. Purdue Pharma, L.P. | 166 F. Supp. 2d 546 | 29 |
| 2003 | BDT Products, Inc. v. Lexmark International, Inc. | 274 F. Supp. 2d 880 | 25 |
| 2002 | Smith v. Franklin County | 227 F. Supp. 2d 667 | 24 |
| 2002 | 3 Bridges, Inc. v. United States | 216 F. Supp. 2d 655 | 21 |
| 1998 | McCoy v. General Motors Corp. | 47 F. Supp. 2d 838 | 21 |
| 1996 | Jessie v. Carter Health Care Center, Inc. | 926 F. Supp. 613 | 20 |
| 2008 | Woosley v. City of Paris | 591 F. Supp. 2d 913 | 19 |
| 1992 | Plaut v. Spendthrift Farm, Inc. | 789 F. Supp. 231 | 19 |
| 2001 | Elswick v. Nichols | 144 F. Supp. 2d 758 | 16 |
| 1996 | Bauer v. Dayton-Walther Corp. | 910 F. Supp. 306 | 16 |
| 1990 | Blackburn v. Floyd County Board of Education Ex Rel. Adams | 749 F. Supp. 159 | 16 |
| 1990 | Damron v. Rob Fork Mining Corp. | 739 F. Supp. 341 | 16 |
| 2006 | Anderson v. Merck & Co. Inc. | 417 F. Supp. 2d 842 | 14 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 151 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed Joseph Martin Hood?
- President George H.W. Bush appointed Joseph Martin Hood to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in 1990.
- Was Joseph Martin Hood appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Joseph Martin Hood was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Joseph Martin Hood's confirmation vote?
- Joseph Martin Hood was confirmed by voice vote on April 27, 1990. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Joseph Martin Hood on?
- Joseph Martin Hood is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
36 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).