The people of Weyburn, Ohio, practice a religion thousands of years old-the first religion. And the first law of this religion is that no one may harm a woman.

One of them has broken this law. He is a rapist and killer, and he must be found and punished. Only his mother can decide what that punishment will be because only mothers have the right to pass judgment on their children. This is the second law: Life is not a right. Life is a privilege.

Young Scott is witness to all of this. Twelve years old, he is a boy on the cusp of adolescence, full of questions and...