Along with decreasing prison population, a goal of California's prison realignment program was to reduce recidivism, or the likelihood an offender would repeat a crime. However, the plan has not proven to be completely effective, as some criminals have been arrested and placed under state custody again.

While this problem is seen statewide, at San Diego County jail, one former inmate who was released early due to the realignment program was later arrested on murder charges. In a guest post for the San Diego Union-Times, Assemblyman Martin Garrick drew attention to this case, as well as to the fact that five other former inmates have been arrested on attempted murder charges.

The realignment program, which was implemented October 1, 2011, takes non-violent criminals in prisons and transfers them to county jails or releases them under house arrest. Joseph Todd Hall qualified as a low-level offender and was eligible for early release from prison. He had been in custody due to convictions for grand theft auto and for possessing a firearm as a felon, but was released because of the realignment program, Garrick wrote. Months after his release, however, Hall was arrested on the murder charges.

The others had previously been locked up for carjacking and stabbing a victim in the chest, the article stated. Garrick argues that if the criminals had served their full sentence, they would not have had the opportunities to commit the crimes they did. However, the realignment program is forcing officials to reduce jail and prison terms to keep population at a  manageable level, the editorial stated.

Garrick is not the first to point to flaws within the state's realignment program. County jail authorities around California have said it has created an extra burden on the local lockups to provide more space for the influx of inmates. The American Civil Liberties Union of California also recently released an assessment of the realignment program, saying it has not fixed the state's correctional system's flaws. The ACLU said the state had not adopted enough reforms to make realignment successful and lower recidivism rates.