Vittorio Nastasi
Director of Criminal Justice Policy, Reason Foundation
Vittorio Nastasi is the director of criminal justice policy at Reason Foundation, where he provides research and technical assistance to lawmakers and stakeholders across the country.
His work focuses on removing barriers to employment, housing, and education for individuals with criminal records; curbing excessive criminal fines and fees; and reducing system overreach through policy research and legislative engagement. His research and commentary have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Orange County Register, Atlanta Journal–Constitution, Palm Beach Post, and Tallahassee Democrat, among others.
Before joining Reason, he worked with the James Madison Institute and the DeVoe L. Moore Center, researching land-use regulation, occupational licensing, and criminal justice policy. Nastasi holds bachelor’s degrees in economics and political science and is currently a doctoral candidate at Florida State University’s Askew School of Public Administration and Policy. He is based in Tallahassee, Florida.
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Loopholes in Florida laws allow law enforcement to collect excessive fines
Florida has laws meant to discourage local governments from relying on ticket revenue, but significant gaps remain in how those laws are enforced.
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Louisiana adopts reforms to provide released inmates with identification documents
House Bill 167 codifies a clearer role for the Department of Public Safety and Corrections in helping inmates obtain necessary documents before they leave prison.
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Maryland reduces uncertainty in occupational licensing decisions for applicants with criminal records
House Bill 557 creates a predetermination review process so citizens with disqualifying criminal records don’t waste time and money training for a license.
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Taxation by citation: A 50-state data and policy report on local government fines and forfeitures
This report maps the scope of local governments' dependence on fines and forfeitures to fund basic operations and why decades of reform efforts have fallen short.
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Report: Fine revenue exceeds 50% of general revenue in 42 cities across the country
Eleven cities collected more revenue from fines than from taxes and other general revenue sources, and seven of the 10 most reliant cities are in Louisiana.
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Maryland’s new law protecting artistic expression should be a model for other states
Other states and Congress should follow Maryland’s lead in protecting freedom of expression.
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How Georgia bureaucrats undermine a law meant to help poor drivers
After Georgia lawmakers passed House Bill 926, making driver's license reinstatement easier, the Georgia Department of Driver Services added new restrictions.
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Colorado becomes the first state to address wrongful arrests and convictions caused by unreliable field drug tests
More than half of the roughly 1.5 million drug arrests conducted in the United States each year involve notoriously unreliable colorimetric field drug tests.
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New 50-state report reveals gaps in identification and reentry document assistance for people leaving prison
A new Reason Foundation report finds only 28 states mandate ID provision despite strong evidence linking employment access to reduced recidivism.
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Pennsylvania stalls on prison ID reform where other states found bipartisan consensus
Pennsylvania has twice rejected legislation to provide identification documents to people leaving prison, even as other states have embraced similar reforms.
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Could clearance rates be key to addressing criminal justice failures?
Clearance rates are the closest metric we have to evaluating how well the criminal justice system does at catching people who commit crimes.
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President Trump’s executive orders threaten cities and states that allow cashless bail
Targeted and carefully designed bail reform can protect public safety and uphold constitutional values. The administration’s crackdown is neither.
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Georgia builds on reforms to provide released inmates with identification documents
Senate Bill 147 represents a meaningful step toward reducing recidivism and promoting public safety in Georgia.
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Virginia adopts reforms to provide released prisoners with identification documents
By codifying a specific process for providing identification, House Bill 2221 reduces administrative barriers to reentry.
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Victim-offender dialogues may help victims heal
Research evidence suggests that victim-offender dialogue can have positive impacts on victims’ healing and may even have positive effects against recidivism.
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Virginia’s Senate Bill 826 would reduce uncertainty associated with occupational licensing approvals
Senate Bill 826 would bring Virginia’s licensing policies in line with the 25 other states that have adopted predetermination processes.
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Providing IDs to returning citizens in Pennsylvania would facilitate successful reintegration
H.B. 1601 would require the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to establish a program to assist citizens in obtaining state-issued photo IDs before release.
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Tennessee reduces unnecessary occupational licensing barriers for people with criminal records
House Bill 1859 builds on the success of Tennessee’s Fresh Start Act by providing greater clarity for occupational licensing applicants who are denied licensure based on their criminal history.