Heeding the request of counsel to deliver one of her ""rants"" at a sentencing hearing, Amy lectures a young drug dealer whose mother has made tremendous sacrifices to provide him with a better life; much to Peter's dismay, Maxine accepts a date from an attractive man she meets at the diner; Amy gets ""backwater detail"" subbing for another judge, and travels with Bruce to a small town to hear a case centered on the misdiagnosis and overmedication of its teenage boys; as her abductor's case comes to trial, Lisa and Vincent argue when her fears for the possibility of acquittal, and thus her safety, increase; pending the outcome of an investigation, Susie is back at work after a one week paid suspension and, over Maxine's objections, sets in motion a chain of events which eventually leads to the death of a young mother; Amy and Bruce have divergent reactions when confronted with intolerance during their trip; Maxine unsuccessfully tries to resign, and ends up being blackmailed into acceptin

When Donna's birthing center burns down the night before she goes into labor, the Grays offer the use of their house for her baby's water birth; the family becomes concerned at Maxine's curiously dispassionate response to the news of Socrates's death; Amy is upset when Vincent decides to spend Christmas alone with Carole rather than with the family; as she begins to suffer from burnout on the job, Maxine shifts some of her caseload onto her colleagues and finally takes Amy's advice to see a therapist; Amy gives four girls who filed a false molestation complaint against their teacher a taste of their own medicine when she has them taken into custody.