Louisiana really did used to execute child rapists, up until 2008 in Louisiana rape in the first degree of a child under the age of 12 was a capital offense; the sentence for raping a child was a minimum of life in a hard labor camp without the possibility of parole and the maximum was the death penalty. The people of Louisiana continually voted for child rape to be a capital offense, it was the United States Supreme Court that removed it as a capital offense. On June 25, 2008 the Supreme Court made a landmark ruling in Kennedy vs Louisiana that: "the Eighth Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause prohibits imposing the death penalty for the rape of a child in cases where the victim did not die and death was not intended." After that the standard sentence for first degree rape of a child under the age of 12 was life without parole in a hard labor camp. Louisiana is one of the very few states that still have hard labor camps for convicted felons, the other two being Georgia and Mississippi.
This episode marks the first appearance of Jack McCoy as the District Attorney.
Novak's fiancée, Charlie, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and whose photograph was first seen in the episode Influence (2006), is mentioned again several times throughout this episode. Casey reveals that he died from a hit-and-run when he ran out into the streets of New York during his last psychotic break and his only form of ID was her business card.
Arye Gross (Saul) & Mariska Hargitay (Benson) previously worked together on the sitcom Ellen (1994).
Novak tries to prevent Saul Picard from being sent to Louisiana where he can face the death penalty for his crime. This is a contrast from the season 2 episode Manhunt (2001) in which her predecessor, Alexandra Cabot, took on the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to get Darryl Kern extradited to New York so he could face capital punishment.