Take two groups of inmates who've been released from prison and track how they behave for a year. That's what the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation did for a new study on realignment. The policy diverts low-level offenders to county jails to help reduce prison overcrowding.

The study found inmates who were released after realignment was in place were re-arrested at lower levels and convicted at similar levels to inmates released pre-realignment. But the Department's Jeffery Callison says the study is too small to draw any conclusions. 

"And there are no end of factors that contribute to why people commit crimes, why people are caught when they commit crimes," he says.

California is currently appealing a ruling by a federal-three-judge panel that mandates the state further reduce prison overcrowding.