[1] It is based on the true story of the murder of an Amish baby by a group of reckless teens in Indiana in 1979.
[2] An Amish family is returning home from a gathering when a group of reckless local teens drives past them in a red pickup truck.
The baby dies, and county prosecutor Jim Sandler (Ken Olin) decides to investigate and prosecute for reckless homicide.
To his frustration, he finds that the Amish family takes Biblical commandments to "turn the other cheek" and that "vengeance belongs to the Lord" literally and as forbidding to help civil authorities punish those who hurt them.
Therefore, the prosecutor must work to persuade them to speak up about what happened so that future harassment and aggression against the Amish community will cease.