Thirty years after being outlawed as inhumane, the punishment originally created to replace slave labor in the post-Civil War South is making a comeback, and filmmaker Xackery Irving attempts to find out how working on a chain gang takes such a heavy toll on both prisoners and guards alike. The programs may be controversial, though a number of state penal systems seeking to get tough with criminals are going to great lengths in order to ensure that true justice is served. A profile of Arizona's first female chain gang precedes a visit to the Limestone Correctional Facility in Alabama, where some correction officers candidly admit to sharing the same mindset as the criminals they've been charged with guarding.