Larry Bello, a social worker, is murdered. The investigation reveals that he was part of a scam involving false claims of foster parents taking in more children than they really had. In trying to find out which parents were part of the fraud, the detectives encounter Mr. and Mrs. Corbin, whose adoptive son Alex has just been kidnapped. Alex came to them as a foster child through Bello and is African-American, whereas the Corbins are white. Briscoe and Curtis soon find out that Alex's biological mother Jenny Mays took him. Jenny is a former crack addict and lost custody of Alex for neglect. With evidence linking her boyfriend Michael Walters to the murder, he claims self-defence and takes a plea bargain. The detectives catch Jenny just as she is about to take Alex out of state. She is charged with kidnapping and murder.
When Kincaid and McCoy find evidence of premeditated kidnapping, Walters confesses that Jenny offered Bello money to give her Alex's address. He wanted more than she could afford, but she was determined to get Alex back, so she sent Walters to threaten Bello. Former ADA Robinette takes the case and manipulates the original judge into backing out so he can get a more favourable replacement. In court, Robinette claims that Jenny is the victim of a racist conspiracy to remove Black children from their birth parents and give them to white families to raise. He then reveals to the jury that Mrs. Corbin was once addicted to painkillers and insists she should, by the prosecutors' logic, be no more fit to raise a child than Jenny Mays is.
The case has now become politically contentious. Jenny testifies that she did not mean any harm to Bello or the Corbins, but no matter how loving the Corbins are, they aren't equipped to raise a Black child. McCoy points out that at the time she found out Alex had been adopted, she didn't yet know that a white family had taken him in, but was already planning to take him back. Furthermore, she took Alex despite knowing that she couldn't support him financially. With the jury unable to reach a verdict, the judge declares a mistrial. Robinette says he just wanted to prove a point and he'll talk Jenny into a plea deal. He reflects that after leaving the DA's office, he now knows his race is a far more integral part of his identity than he once believed.
This episode contains examples of:
- Department of Child Disservices: Not only did Bello run a scam with foster parents and try to extort Jenny out of money, but the department is so underfunded and under-staffed that no one really keeps track of the kids they deal with.
- Drugs Are Bad: Alex was taken into foster care because of Jenny's crack addiction, and Mrs. Corbin has a previous conviction for causing a car crash under the influence of prescription drugs.
- Happily Adopted: Alex was, although Jenny didn't seem to agree.
- Logical Fallacies: One of Robinette's expert witnesses is the author of a study which found that Black children adopted by white parents are more likely to be poor or get into crime or drugs as adults; and concluded this is because of inter-racial adoption. McCoy points out that the study did not take into account the fact that children aren't generally put up for adoption unless they have suffered trauma or abuse in the first place.
- Malcolm Xerox: One of several episodes showing Robinette's transformation into this as a defence lawyer.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: During the trial, Robinette gets in a lengthy one aimed at the DA's office.
