The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors floated a “decarceration” plan this week that involved adopting a zero-bail policy for most offenses and turning loose inmates in county jails who have a combined bail of less than $50,000 for all their outstanding offenses.

Fortunately, the backlash from this plan was so great that it was quickly shelved. But neither Los Angeles nor the rest of the country will be safe for long because it is only a matter of time before the supervisors or leaders in some other jurisdiction sneak through similar measures. Bad ideas like this one are percolating all over the country because of a deeply misguided conception of criminal justice reform that was popularized during the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020.