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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Florida’s successful telehealth policies should be applied to address dental care shortages
More than seven million Floridians live in areas with shortages of dental health professionals.
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New York’s clean slate reforms offer former offenders a second chance
New York’s approach to automated record sealing strikes an appropriate balance between upholding public safety and offering former offenders a second chance.
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South Dakota reduces unnecessary occupational licensing barriers for people with criminal records
South Dakota's Senate Bill 57 is a major step in the right direction in reducing barriers to employment for individuals with criminal records.
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Analysis: 34 cities in Georgia collected at least 20 percent of their total revenue from fines and forfeitures
Five cities in Georgia—Lenox, Warwick, Oliver, Hiltonia, and Rock Ford—collected at least 50 percent of their total revenues from fines and forfeitures.
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Grading every state’s telehealth laws
While many state telehealth laws changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, some of those reforms have expired and many best practices that would improve health care and help patients still need to be implemented.
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Ohio should abolish the death penalty
Eleven people have been exonerated while awaiting execution in Ohio since 1979, including three within the past 10 years.
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Examining recent crime trends and flaws in national statistics
It is important to understand crime data in context and avoid reactionary policy decisions.
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Monetary sanctions and court fees are counterproductive to the goals of juvenile justice
Each year, an estimated 1 million youth enter juvenile courts.
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Text message reminders can improve community supervision outcomes and reduce inefficiency
Nearly 3.7 million adults are on community supervision programs like probation and parole–that’s nearly twice the number of people incarcerated in jail or prison.
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Providing returning citizens with IDs and other essential documents can facilitate the reentry process
Over 80% of prisoners will eventually be released and roughly 500,000 people are released from prison each year.
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Strategies for improving community supervision programs
Nearly 3.7 million adults are on community supervision programs like probation and parole across the United States.
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Occupational licensing reform can reduce barriers to employment faced by former offenders
Lawmakers should consider occupational licensing reform to reduce government-imposed barriers to employment for former offenders.
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New report highlights enormous scale of community supervision in the United States
Data from a new report from the Prison Policy Initiative shows that nearly 3.7 million adults are on community supervision programs like probation and parole.
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Southern California counties should get rid of late fees for traffic fines
Late fees continue to burden many low-income Californians while exacerbating the problems of revenue-oriented policing.
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Florida criminal justice reform would reduce technical violations of probation
Senate Bill 1478 offers Gov. DeSantis a great opportunity to further improve Florida’s parole and community supervision programs.
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South Carolina reduces occupational licensing barriers for people with criminal records
Several studies have linked occupational licensing policies to increased criminal recidivism.
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Maine would benefit from automatic expungement of cannabis possession records
Legislative Document 1646 would help mitigate past harms of prohibition by expunging criminal records related to cannabis possession.
