17405. The Unexplored Costs & Effects of ‘Three Strikes’ Laws: The Problem of the Aging Prison Population: A Study Proposal. This paper presents a proposal for a study investigating the costs and unintended effects of Three Strikes’ laws through an exploration of the potential relationship between states’ passage of Three Strikes’ laws and the expansion of an older prison population. It is hypothesized that states which have passed three strikes laws are experiencing a more rapid aging of their prison populations than they were prior to the enactment of such laws and that states with three strikes laws are experiencing a more rapid aging of their prison population than states without such laws. Introduces the topic and discusses the significance of the study, presents a review of literature on the topic, and discusses the methodology (specifying procedures for data collection and analysis as well as stating study hypotheses) to be used in the study. KEYWORDS: research study proposal criminology criminal justice three strikes recidivism prisoner aging. 20 pages, 76 footnotes, 31 bibliographic sources. 4,774 words.