Fiona Apple’s New Protest Song is a Haunting Call for Pretrial Justice
Fiona Apple has returned – not just with new music, but with a rallying cry for pretrial reform. Her first original song in five years, “Pretrial (Let Her Go Home),” is a searing protest anthem shaped by years of court watching, community organizing, and deep listening to the women impacted by pretrial incarceration.
Apple spent over two years attending bail hearings in Prince George’s County, Maryland, as part of CourtWatch PG. She also volunteered with the Free Black Mamas DMV campaign, which like The Bail Project, raises money to bring people home from jail. To date, The Bail Project has secured the release of over 35,000 individuals – nearly one-third of them women – making it one of the largest and most impactful bail funds in the country.
These experiences didn’t just inspire the song – they informed it. The lyrics and the accompanying video are grounded in the brutal, everyday reality of pretrial detention in America, and shine a light on the unique harms pretrial detention inflicts on women.
“She took on extra shifts, still couldn’t pay the bail/ No danger, no flight risk, but she would stay in jail/ She was not convicted of anything”
More than 400,000 people are incarcerated pretrial in the United States every day – legally innocent, yet locked away simply because they can’t afford to pay bail – and nearly half of all Americans have experienced the incarceration of a loved one. At The Bail Project, we post bail for people who can’t afford it, and we’ve seen firsthand what Apple describes in her song: families separated, jobs lost, homes destabilized, and lives permanently altered by even short stays in jail.
This is not justice. This is poverty-based incarceration.
In her video, Apple centers the women most harmed by the system – mothers, caretakers, community members whose absence ripples through entire families. Women are the fastest growing incarcerated population, more than 80% of women in jail are mothers, and many are the primary caretakers of their children. Through courtroom sketches, home videos, and campaign footage from Free Mamas DMV, Apple brings the human cost – and the unique toll of the system on women – into stark, visual relief.
“Two months, the rent’s past due and grandma took a fall/ The kids been missing school to see her at the hospital/ When the teacher saw that they were not in school again today/ She called CPS and CPS then took the kids away”
This is exactly what we fight against every day at The Bail Project. We know that when you support someone through the pretrial process instead of punishing them with incarceration, you can achieve better outcomes for individuals, families, and public safety. That’s why we also invest in community-based support and court reminders – because showing up isn’t about coercion. It’s about compassion and connection.
More than 60,000 women are jailed pretrial on any given day in the United States. Most have not been convicted of a crime, and many are held on low-level charges. The average annual income of these women is just $11,000, and two-thirds are mothers of minor children. This is a system designed to criminalize poverty, not promote justice.
“Preliminary hearing’s short, only witness is the cop/ He doesn’t even show up in court and all the charges get dropped/ What the f**k’s the point of all the f**king hell he put her through?”
It’s a question we ask ourselves every day. And it’s one every person with a conscience should be asking.
Fiona Apple has used her platform not just to speak out – but to amplify the work of local organizers and everyday advocates who are pushing for real change. It’s a protest, yes. But also a musical act of solidarity. And it comes at a time when national momentum for pretrial reform is growing, even in the face of backlash.
At The Bail Project, we believe freedom should never depend on how much money you have. We invite you to stand with us – and with Fiona Apple – in the fight to end cash bail and create a pretrial system rooted in dignity, equity, and humanity.
Join the movement. Learn more. Take action.
Thank you for your valuable attention. The urgency and complication of the cash bail crisis requires meaningful participation to create real change – change that is only achieved through the support of readers like you. Please consider sharing this piece with your networks and donating what you can today to sustain our vital work.
