“At 15, I made the dumb decision to hang with friends and commit an act of robbery that went wrong,” says Carl Wilkins, who has spent 25 years behind bars. Despite not being the killer and considered a minor, Carl was automatically sentenced to life without parole for his involvement in a murder. The U.S. Supreme Court has now judged that such sentences can no longer be applied automatically. That’s why Carl and about 2,100 others can try to get the verdict reversed – and perhaps be released on parole. However, for every convict sentenced to life, there is a victim’s family who want justice. “Life without parole should mean life without parole,” says Ronald Katz, whose 16-year-old son Micah was murdered in 1997 because of jealousy over a girl. “You got drugs, you got guns, you got a lot of things that go on,” says Carl’s stepbrother and best friend, Jimmy, the day before Carl is picked up from outside the prison gates. During many tear-filled moments, this candid film follows Carl as he navigates his new and unfamiliar life on the outside.