Robert Palmer quietly endures the stone walls and misery of prison, dreaming of the day he can return to his family. Sent up for two years, Palmer hopes to keep his incarceration a secret, so as not to break his mother's heart. His homecoming surpasses his wildest fantasies, and Robert is able to return to his life and his job at the bank. Despite his success, he is plagued by paranoia and afraid of the prejudice he would face as an ex-con. When a bank robbery threatens to expose his past, Palmer is forced into a violent struggle that will either send him back to prison or redeem his name.The producers of The Penal Code intended it as a cautionary tale to warn children that crime does not pay, painting a grim picture of the horrors of jail and the suffering that all convicts undergo.
