In this conclusion to our series on the California Supreme Court’s recent performance we argue that the valid concerns some have raised about the court’s opinion output do not constitute a crisis. Annual decision tallies are just one performance metric that decreases in significance when considered with other factors.

Sunday, Los Angeles County enters a new, more fair era of criminal justice by moving into a system in which most people arrested for low-level offenses are no longer jailed in the days before their arraignment. This transformation is a politically charged one, with police groups and politicians misleadingly sounding the alarm over “zero bail,” feeding off the popular anxiety over several recent brazen, high-profile thefts.

The evidence pushed in a single direction: Eliminating money bail did not increase either failures to appear or rearrests. In fact, it showed that both court appearances and public safety improved.

A dozen southern California cities filed an 11th-hour court action Friday in hopes of halting the implementation of a zero-bail system in Los Angeles County that will eliminate cash bail for most people arrested of non-violent or non-serious crimes, allowing them to be released with a citation to appear in court at a later date.