It turns out “Fetch the Bolt Cutters†wasn’t just a motif for early pandemic cabin fever — it’s a metaphor for Fiona Apple’s commitment to advocating for those facing pretrial detention. The singer, a trained court watcher with nearly two years of experience with Court Watch PG holding the judicial system accountable, called Maryland’s Prince George’s County court system “stupid asshole babies†on October 24 in response to a reduction of virtual public access to trials. With the advent of pandemic-era virtual trials, volunteers like Apple received access to bond hearings, reporting their observations in databases for civil-rights groups. But now, the Grammy Award–winning artist believes that Prince George’s County has taken away access to Zoom trials in retaliation for observations that helped pretrial detainees file a civil-rights lawsuit against the county. The suit alleges that the county’s pretrial-detention practices violate state and federal constitutional rights.
“The point of doing this is just to inform you, because there’s an entity trying to keep you all unaware of what’s going on behind closed, barred doors,†Apple begins her remarks in a video posted on civil rights attorney Scott Hechinger’s Twitter calling out prosecutors who mock defendants who cannot afford a $50 bail and detailing a system that oftentimes wrongfully jails defendants indefinitely — a reality with devastating ripple effects that include potential job loss, lack of child care or elder care, and houselessness. “These Plaintiffs have sued pretrial and some judges in Prince George’s County,†Apple continues, referring to the class-action suit against the county. “What do you think happened when that lawsuit dropped? They took our fucking Zoom access away.â€
After slamming the Maryland court for allegedly infringing on court watchers’ rights, she asked a key question that accused the county of retaliation: “Why would they take this access away right after we tried to hold them accountable, when the plaintiffs are trying to hold them accountable? Why would they take our access away? What would you think if a cop was walking towards you and took off their body camera? You’d be like, ‘Oh shit, this motherfucker is about to do something wrong and bad and he knows it.’†Lack of Zoom access not only produces garbled audio, but Apple said that court watchers can’t support public defenders and their clients with physical or mental disabilities, because they can no longer identify who’s who over the phone.
“I’m just hoping that the audience that receives this is going to care,†she concludes. “Just think all of those people in there (there’s thousands of people in there) having their lives upended. Having their whole family and communities — ripple effect. Because pretrial is not on their shit. Because the loved one can’t afford to get out. Because they got forgotten … Being treated like you’re not even human. Please care.†Fiona Apple can’t fetch the bolt cutters alone, people!