Our study described below addresses how two “tough on crime” laws–Three Strikes and Truth in Sentencing–may have impacted birth outcomes of Black women between 1984 and 2004. While research exists on the role state incarceration policies play in increasing mass incarceration in the U.S., their role in shaping population health and health disparities have remained largely unknown.

This study examines the effects of two significant state incarceration policies from the 1990s—three strikes and truth in sentencing—on birth outcomes for Black and White infants. The research employs a difference-in-differences event study design to capture the dynamic effects of these policies over time.

This study will investigate the causal impacts of implementation—and, in more recent years, repeal—of state sentencing policies on racial disparities in health among infants and young adults.