Celebrating 200 Years

Scott Crichton

Associate Justice, Louisiana Supreme Court January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2024

While on the State’s high court, Scott chaired the court’s Executive Committee as well as the Louisiana Judicial College; he was also the court’s statutory designee to the Louisiana Sheriffs Executive Management Institute Board. He is the recipient of the 2022 Judge Benjamin Jones Judges in the Classroom Award and the 2024 President’s Award from the Louisiana Judicial College Board of governors in recognition for his years of service to judicial education.

For five years (2018-2022), Scott was a member of the adjunct faculty of Tulane Law School and published two coursebooks: Contemporary Issues in Legal Ethics (2021) and Advanced Appellate Advocacy (2020). He also co-authored an article in Louisiana Law Review, Appealing Standards: Louisiana’s Constitutional Provision Governing Appellate Review of Criminal Facts, 79 La. L. Rev. 360 (2018). His participation in academic and student development includes serving several years on the faculty for the LSU Law Center Trial Advocacy Program.

Prior to his election to the Supreme Court, Scott served 24 years (1991-2014) as a judge with the First Judicial District Court (Shreveport/Caddo Parish), presiding in both the civil and criminal divisions. During the 1980s, he served as an assistant district attorney for Caddo Parish, maintained a civil litigation practice, and served on the adjunct faculty of LSU-Shreveport.

Scott is a past president of the Louisiana District Judges Association, past member of the Advisory Committee to the Supreme Court on Revision of the Judicial Canons, the Louisiana Judicial College Board of Governors, and the Criminal Best Practices Committee. He has served numerous terms as chair or co-chair of the Shreveport Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Committee. Scott is certified by the National Judicial College in program design and has taught over 200 CLE hours to lawyers and judges. He is also a graduate of the inaugural class of the Louisiana Judicial Leadership Institute. From 2007 to 2014, Scott was an occasional co-host of a popular Shreveport Sunday morning radio program, “Praise Temple Full Gospel Countdown.”

Through the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Judges Imparting Knowledge, Education and Skills Task Force, Scott has designed a PowerPoint presentation for high school students, titled “Crime, Consequences and the Power of Choice”, which has been instituted state-wide in connection with the Judges in the Classroom program.

Scott grew up in Minden, Webster Parish, Louisiana. In 1968, at the age of 14, he enrolled as a boarding student at The Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. Scott completed North Carolina Outward Bound School (1971); graduated from The Webb School (1972); received his bachelor’s degree from the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge (Bachelor of Science, 1976); and obtained his law degree from the Paul M. Hebert LSU Law Center (Juris Doctor, 1980).

Scott is a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Shreveport, where he has served on the vestry. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Webb School, and in 2017 was inducted into Webb’s Distinguished Alumni Society.

Scott credits his parents, Tom (owner, hardware store/cattle rancher) and Mary (homemaker and life master, bridge), with teaching and instilling in him the virtues of humility, education, and a commitment of service to community, all of which have guided him throughout life. Scott and his wife, Susie, share time in Webster Parish and New Orleans. They have two sons, both of whom are lawyers.