Scott Peyton is the Louisiana state director for Right On Crime. He has over 12 years of work experience with the State of Louisiana: first as a child welfare specialist, then as a juvenile probation and parole officer. Prior to joining Right On Crime, he worked in adult probation and parole as a specialist supervising violent offender caseloads. Peyton has spent time as both a volunteer and reserve deputy sheriff, as well as providing as-needed support to Elayn Hunt Correctional Center working as a correctional officer. As a former instructor with Peace Officer Standards and Training certification, he taught at the Probation and Parole Police Academy. Peyton has witnessed firsthand the need for criminal justice reform, the impacts of rehabilitation and re-entry programs, and the inner workings of the Louisiana Probation and Parole system.
Peyton graduated from Louisiana State University at Shreveport with a Master’s in nonprofit administration and from the University of Southwestern Louisiana with a BS in criminal justice. Peyton served in the Louisiana National Guard before being honorably discharged. He is an ordained deacon in the Catholic church and resides in Louisiana with his wife and six children.
April is Second Chance Month, a nationwide effort to raise awareness of the numerous harmful collateral consequences of a criminal conviction and unlock opportunities for people impacted by the criminal justice system. This month is a reminder of the importance of removing those barriers while we continue to advance evidence-based policies that can safely lower...
In Louisiana, Right On Crime Director Scott Peyton recently joined talk show host Ian Hoch on WWL radio to discuss the hasty passage of bills in the recent special legislative session on crime, particularly the reversal of Louisiana’s 2017 Justice Reinvestment Initiative. Peyton praised Gov. Jeff Landry for focusing on crime but said the nine-day...
Comparison may be the thief of joy, but as a former corrections employee and parole officer, I was blown away by a recent International Prison Cohort Tour through Germany and Norway, sponsored by the ARrow Center for Justice. The contrast between the correctional philosophies of these two nations and the United States, the world’s largest...
PEARL, Miss. — In a remarkable display of compassion and commitment to rehabilitation, this year’s dedication of a chapel at the Mississippi Correctional Institute for Women has given incarcerated women an invaluable source of hope and solace. This momentous occasion, graced by the presence of Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Burl...
Mississippi, along with states across the nation, will recognize National Crime Victims’ Rights Week April 23 through 29. And it’s personal for me. For my family, this recognition hits home. In 2018, one of my children was a victim of a serious crime, a crime that sent a ripple effect through every member of my...
Much like our New Year’s resolutions, aspirations to improve Mississippi’s criminal justice system are carried over from year to year with recommendations that often fall short in their implementation. Since 2014, when the Mississippi legislature established the Corrections and Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force, many annual recommendations have not manifested into results that achieve greater public safety....
It’s truly disappointing that the New Year was rung in with headlines such as “New Orleans is ‘America’s Murder Capital’ of 2022,” after nine shooting incidents in just 24 hours at year’s end. As a native Louisianan, a former probation and parole officer, and the Louisiana State Director of Right On Crime, a criminal justice initiative of...
Rest easy Mr. Raccoon, Louisiana law protects you from receiving care from a convicted felon. A few months ago, my dog, Oscar, encountered a family of raccoons raiding my neighbor’s garden. The lone prisoner was a young raccoon. I separated the injured raccoon from Oscar in the hopes I could save its life. I’m that...
Tackling the complexities of reentry is an issue facing Mississippi—as well as every other state in our nation. As I testified this week before a Mississippi State Legislature joint House and Senate Committee hearing on national best practices for reentry, I was left with no doubt that when stakeholders work collaboratively, there’s great potential for...
Right on Crime is expanding with fulltime presence in Mississippi, and I am honored to be heading this effort. My first order of business is to make Mississippi reentry ready. Over the past few years, the Mississippi Legislature has passed practical, conservative criminal justice reforms focused toward improving public safety, but there remains more to achieve. Mississippi...
Since the 1950s, a replica of the Liberty Bell has been outside Louisiana’s State Capitol to serve as a reminder to cherish the freedom we share as Americans. It also serves as a reminder of the awesome responsibility entrusted to our elected representatives to protect these rights and freedoms for all Louisianans. This includes the...
Public safety and support of victims are Right on Crime’s top priorities in advocating for reforms to the criminal justice system. The 2021 legislative session saw the Pelican State continue to move in the right direction with common-sense, practical criminal justice reforms. In this limited fiscal session, Right on Crime tracked over 70 criminal justice...