Three-strikes laws were passed through the country in the early 90’s. These laws were put in place to punish repeat offenders convicted of violent or serious felonies. In California a third offense could mean a lifetime in jail. Combining the War on Drugs with the three strikes laws meant there was a massive increase in the number of Black and Brown people being put behind bars. This was obviously not intended to be a health policy but it has had detrimental effects on the people behind bars and the families of these people. Regardless of the inmate’s access to healthcare in the prison system, inmates have been shown to have poorer health outcomes. According to the Office of Justice Program’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, both prisoners and jail inmates are more likely than the general public to report having a chronic illness and high blood pressure. These health conditions definitely impact health outcomes for these people during and after their imprisonment.
Evaluating this three strikes policy is a necessary part of creating real positive change in poor communities of color. There are two parties effected by these policies- the convicted people and their families. The health of a person and their family is at risk when they are imprisoned. While some statistics already show this, we need to be more holistic in testing the health of our inmates.
This policy has led to the highest incarceration rates of black and brown men in the history of our country. The health outcomes of this have yet to be fully considered. We need to test cortisol levels, telomere length, heart health, and even mental health and its impact on chronic illness. This policy has been leaving communities of color impoverished and broken for almost three decades.
I would study the impact of imprisonment in a few ways. Comparing general statistics of inmate populations to the non-incarcerated populations is always telling of the negative health outcomes of imprisonment. After obtaining recent, accurate data I would conduct studies on population gradient. This would include never incarcerated people (low and high SES), people who have been incarcerated but are now free, and incarceration in low and high security prison systems. Hair and saliva samples alone could give access to biomarkers in these populations and will allow me to compare the differences. This study would have to be done in a large population in order for the results to be comparable and relevant. If these results indicate the negative health outcomes I hypothesize, I may be able to conduct longitudinal studies around overall physical and mental health in and out of the prison system. These studies would include blood pressure, cholesterol levels, A1C levels, BMI, and more.
I believe the biggest challenge to implementing policies that may impact health outcomes is that no one seems to value the health outcomes. People in power create and implement policies without considering what the effects of the policy are. I attribute this shortsightedness to the lack of diversity in our public officials. When a majority of the politicians and officials representing us are well off, middle aged, white men there is going to be a misinformation about the needs of poor communities of color. Instead of creating social welfare programs that would build these communities up, these communities are being torn apart by policies around criminal activity, welfare, and housing. Policies around these issues are leading to negative health outcomes that were not considered before implementation.