The episode ends with a tribute to United States Attorney Charlie Rose, who died shortly after this episode was filmed. [ "Dedicated to United States Attorney CHARLES ROSE: He made the world a safer place" ] He worked for 15 years with the United States Attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York. He helped prosecute bank robbers, narcotics traffickers, terrorists, and organized-crime figures. His biggest case was prosecuting terrorists from Puerto Rico who wanted their country to no longer be a territory of the United States: they had bombed the headquarters of the New York City Police Department and the F.B.I. headquarters at Federal Plaza. Mr. Rose prosecuted the terrorists responsible for the bombings and got convictions on all of them. In 1990, he prosecuted one of the largest cases involving organized crime since that of Al Capone: he prosecuted notorious mobster Vincent Gigante, who conspired with 14 other reputed gangsters to rig bids and extort payoffs from contractors on multi-million-dollar bids with the New York City Housing Authority. Everyone charged was convicted on multiple counts of extortion, racketeering, and murder, except for Mr. Gigante who stalled his trial by pretending to be mentally unfit. However, he was eventually convicted, although it was after Mr. Rose left the U.S. Attorney's office. Charles Rose has been credited with doing more than any other U.S. Attorney (at the time of his death in 1998) to clean up organized crime in New York City.
This episode appears to be based on the following cases/incidents:
- The 1988 murder of Mulugeta Seraw and the subsequent civil lawsuit against Tom Metzger. Metzger, who founded the White Aryan Resistance (WAR), was found guilty of inciting the murder of Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw after three WAR members beat and kicked Seraw to death. Metzger was found guilty on civil rather than criminal charges. The three WAR terrorists received varying jail sentences for Seraw's murder. Metzger was bankrupted and must make payments, which are ongoing as of 2019.
- The 1998 Kimberly Dotts murder case, which happened in Clearfield County (west-central Pennsylvania) that occurred shortly before this episode aired. Kimberly planned to run away to Florida with a group of newly-made friends (actually juvenile delinquents) who turned on her when they believed she would snitch on their plan. The group, lead by Jessica Holtmeyer, took Kim to a remote area of Bradford Township, known as Gallows Harbor, where they strangled and hanged her with a rope and then bludgeoned her to death with a basketball-sized rock. Holtmeyer was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. However, as of October 2017, she may be re-sentenced according to a new law that precludes a life sentence for a juvenile offender, even retroactively. The crime puzzled some residents of Clearfield because Jessica came from a very good, well-liked, and well-respected family, active in the church and community. Others were not at all surprised: Jessica had a troubled childhood, and her mother would never have won a Parent of the Year award. One of the characters in this episode is called Jessica.
- The National Socialist Movement political party.
- The 1977 National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie case.
- The 1969 Brandenburg v. Ohio case.
- The 1941 Milk Wagon Drivers v. Meadowmoor Dairies, Inc. case.
- The ethical debate about redefining the limitations of freedom of speech to prevent incitement of violence.
The farm property where Lenny and Rey go with Pennsylvania State cops to arrest 4 members of the group who killed the girl is located in Nuremberg, PA. Nuremberg, Germany is where the Nazi war criminals were tried after World War 2. This story revolves around White Supremacists.
Second television appearance of future CSI: NY (2004) mainstay Anna Belknap, who played a teenager despite being 27 years old. Her first TV appearance was in Work Related (1996), where she also played a teenager.
Rosa Arredondo has played four different roles over the course of the series:
- Episode 6.7 Humiliation (1995) - Nina.
- Episode 9.10 Hate (1999) - Cecilia (as Rosa Evangelina Arredondo).
- Episode 12.12 Undercovered (2002) - Mrs. Garcia.
- Episode 19.18 Promote This! (2009) - Juanita Stratton.