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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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.
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Georgia Gov. Kemp signs bill to help released prisoners obtain IDs, documentation
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp just signed into law a bill that helps those freed from prison obtain identification cards and proof of programs and training they have completed while incarcerated.
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IRS delayed its reporting rules targeting gig economy income, but a permanent fix is needed
Taxpayers get one small, temporary reprieve from the government's ongoing crackdown on the sharing economy.
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Californians shouldn’t lose access to telehealth services because emergency order ended
California’s telehealth policies fail to meet best practices for promoting patient access and giving flexibility to health care providers.
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Florida should abolish capital punishment, not make it easier
In Florida, 30 people have been exonerated while they were awaiting execution since 1972.
