Maya Mikdash is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Louisiana State University. She received her PhD in Economics from Texas A&M University in 2024. Her research is in applied microeconomics, with a focus on labor economics and the economics of crime. In her past work, she has examined how exposure to police violence affects crime and civilian cooperation, and how assignment to a different-race attorney affects case outcomes for low-income defendants. She is currently studying the long-term effects of access to modern, large-scale Pre-K programs as well as whether indigent defense attorney quality can reduce racial disparities in criminal justice outcomes.