Ronnie Carrasquillo appears destined to die in prison. 47 years after he killed a plainclothes police officer, his life is in the hands of a parole board whose decision-making is swayed by shifting political sands and an ever-present police union. As Ronnie's family and attorneys fight for his freedom, they keep coming back to the same question: "is this any way to decide a man's fate?" The documentary IN THEIR HANDS tells Ronnie's story and sheds light on parole boards and the elected officials who appoint parole board members. In a surprising third act, the film also explores the reverberations of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that, in light of modern brain science, ruled that a mandatory life sentence for a juvenile constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. More broadly, it is a story about how the modern politics of crime and punishment can force levelheaded Americans to abandon their beliefs about redemption and personal transformation.