The media harasses Judge Joe Rifkind and a higher judge for the shooting of a rookie police officer who was killed by a young criminal the judge set free. To make amends, Judge Rifkind pays a visit to the father of the rookie police officer who also happens to be one of his former police partners. Assistant DA Bobby Esposito's brother, Frank, is given another chance to stop using drugs, but when he doesn't show up for his flight to the rehabilitation centre, Bobby assumes he's been deceived by Frank again. Meanwhile, Bobby and Cynthia Bennington's relationship heats up despite the one secret Bobby can't bring himself to tell her.

When the mayor's lead in the upcoming primary begins to wane, the press sites Judge Rifkind's ordeal as one of the Mayor's problems. The mayor puts in motion a plan to have Rifkind removed from the bench. In the ADA's office, maintenance removes Bobby's computer so it can be evaluated for misconduct and Cynthia is called into District Attorney Spiegelman's office. Spiegelman wants her to testify against Judge Rifkind for sexual harassment. He claims someone witnessed a harassing remark Rifkind made to her. She denies anything ever happened but is forced to reconsider when threatened that her testimony will keep Bobby out of jail. Meanwhile, Judge Attallah Sims has her own plan for helping Rifkind.

Judge Rifkind seriously considers teaching law school when he revisits his love and appreciation for American law. Cassandra gives Ramon an ultimatum: either he can be a good husband and father, or he can be single. His decision becomes complicated when a former girlfriend makes him an offer that could jump-start more than his career. Bobby prosecutes an abusive husband and his wife for stabbing a police officer. The husband is using his money and influence to put his wife in jail. But the case is the least of Bobby's worries when he's finally faced with his punishment for erasing a conviction on his brother's arrest record.

Cynthia is knocked unconscious in an attack outside her storefront office. Judge Rifkind takes aside a defendant who has spent a lifetime fighting social injustice, leading to a debate about the system. Ramon counsels a teenager accused of patronizing a prostitute. Bobby accosts the man who attacked Cynthia, and Ramon can't get a house in the suburbs because he is Latino.

Judge Attallah Sims takes on a freedom of expression suit against a successful artist accused of exploiting an underage girl who posed for his painting without her father's permission. The father subsequently destroys the painting and lands back at 100 Centre St. J.J. catches Fatima in a series of compromising positions with various officers. After Fatima loses it in Rifkind's courtroom, Rifkind starts to suspect something is wrong with her. An arrogant J.J. starts to make his way up the ranks of the Joint Task Force.

Ramon defends a teenager accused of horrible gay bashing. The teen insists he's innocent. Ramon tries to cop a deal with the Assistant D.A. for a lesser charge only to discover that he may have been manipulated. Rebecca moves out of the Rifkind home to take a job at a health spa in Baja. Bobby decides to quit his job as an investigator, which may end his relationship with Cynthia. Acting D.A. Byrnes takes J.J. under his wing and offers to be his mentor. Desperate to score more drugs, Fatima breaks down in Michelle Grande's office. Ramon's wife goes into labour and while in the waiting room meets a gay man whose lover is dying.