For outspoken and oversized Mable "Madea" Simmons (TYLER PERRY), her latest run-in with the law might just be the straw that finally breaks the back of her continued luck of not serving any jail time. It seems that after having eluded the police with her pot-smoking brother, Uncle Joe (TYLER PERRY), Madea beat them up, all of which was recorded. Accordingly, family members Cora (TAMELA J. MANN) and Leroy Brown (DAVID MANN) hope that family lawyer Brian (TYLER PERRY) can prevent her from being sent away.
At the same time, things are looking good for Atlanta assistant district attorney Joshua Hardaway (DEREK LUKE). His career is continuing to grow with the help of his friend and assistant Chuck (RONREACO LEE), and he's engaged to fellow prosecutor and coworker Linda Davis (ION OVERMAN). But he's thrown for a loop when he recognizes a woman from his past, Candace "Candy" Washington (KESHIA KNIGHT PULLIAM), who's now up on prostitution charges.
Due to the conflict of interest predicament in which he finds himself, he turns over the prosecution to Linda who's understandably curious about how he knows this woman. He doesn't immediately let on, but is determined to help his former friend and thus enlists the aid of Ellen (VIOLA DAVIS), a former hooker turned preacher and social worker who tries to get the likes of Candy and her friend, Donna (VANESSA FERLITO), off the streets and out of that line of work.
As Joshua's continued efforts to help Candy end up putting a strain on his relationship with Linda, Madea's anger management issues eventually land her in jail, where she must put with other inmates such as eccentric serial killer and bunkmate T.T. (SOFIA VERGARA) as well as Big Sal (ROBIN COLEMAN) who thinks she runs the place.