Perry Hooper Sr.

Perry Oliver Hooper Sr. (April 8, 1925 – April 24, 2016) was an American jurist who served as the 27th chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court from 1995 to 2001. He was the first Republican since Reconstruction to have been elected to his state's highest court.

Perry Hooper Sr.
Hooper in 1997
27th Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court
In office October 20, 1995 – January 15, 2001
Preceded by	Ernest C. Hornsby
Succeeded by	Roy Moore
Circuit Judge, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Montgomery County, Alabama
In office 1974–1983
Montgomery County Probate Judge
In office 1965–1974
Personal details
Born	Perry Oliver Hooper (1925-04-08)April 8, 1925 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Died	April 24, 2016(2016-04-24) (aged 91) Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Marilyn Yost Hooper
Children	4, including Perry Hooper Jr.
Parent(s)	Ernest and Mary Lou Perry Hooper
Alma mater	Birmingham-Southern College University of Alabama (JD)
Military service
Branch/service	United States Marine Corps

Background

With receipt of his Juris Doctor degree, he entered private practice.

Hooper was active in the Republican Party during the days when it barely existed in Alabama. In 1964, during the Barry Goldwater sweep of Alabama, Hooper was elected probate judge of Montgomery County, the first Republican to have been elected to that position since the 19th century. He continued as the probate judge, handling wills, successions, and estate transactions, until 1974, when was elected Judge of Alabama's 15th Judicial Circuit. In 1983, he returned to private practice.

1968 Senate election

In 1968, Hooper was the Republican nominee for the United States Senate for the open seat vacated by retiring Democrat Lister Hill. In the general election, Hooper received 201,277 votes (24 percent of the major party vote) to 638,774 (76 percent) for the Democratic nominee, former Lieutenant Governor James B. Allen, a conservative whose views were similar to those of Hooper. Still Hooper polled 54,304 more votes in his statewide race than did his party's presidential nominee, Richard M. Nixon. Hooper narrowly held his home county of Montgomery and fared best among upper-income whites, having received two thirds of the vote in higher socio-economic precincts in both Montgomery and Birmingham. Lower-income whites, conversely, supported Allen by a wide margin.

Supreme Court election and service

In 1994, Hooper was narrowly elected chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, with a winning margin of just 262 votes. He was not sworn in until October 20, 1995, almost nine months after his term had begun. Allies of the sitting Democratic Chief Justice, Ernest C. Hornsby, challenged the result, seeking to count approximately 2,000 absentee ballots that were unwitnessed and unsigned. In September 1995, U.S. District Judge Alex T. Howard Jr. decided that they should not be counted. His decision was upheld by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and a stay granted by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy expired on October 14. The full court declined to hear the case on October 19, 1995, and Hooper was seated.

Hooper served as chief justice until his retirement in 2001, when he was succeeded by fellow Republican Roy Moore.

Personal life

Perry Hooper Sr. lived in Montgomery with his wife. They have four children. Hooper's son, Perry O. Hooper Jr., also of Montgomery, is a Republican former member of the Alabama House of Representatives. The junior Hooper was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for the Alabama Public Service Commission in the general election held on November 7, 2006. George Wallace Jr., formerly a Democrat, vacated the PSC position and ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor.

Hooper died at home on April 24, 2016. He was 91.

References

• Alabama Department of Archives and History. Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justices: Perry O. Hooper Sr. Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed April 22, 2007.
• Alabama House of Representatives. 2001 Resolution HJR9. February 6, 2001.