Mandamus is Latin for "We command." In the justice system, a writ of mandamus is an order from a superior court ordering a lower court, government institution, or corporation to do (or to forbid from doing) a specific act that said court, institution, or corporation is obliged to do under the law. In the United States, writs of mandamus from a higher court to a lower one--like a writ from the Supreme Court to an Appellate Court or Circuit Court, or to a government institution like a District Attorney--has largely been phased out in the criminal justice system. Writs of mandamus are usually only seen in corporate and family law. However, superior courts in the criminal justice system still have the authority to issue a writ to a lower court or institution if the situation calls for it.
This episode inspired the "Law & Order UK" episode "Masquerade (2010)." The facts are slightly different. Instead of being African-American, the victim is of Pakistani origin.
When asked to give her fingerprints, a suspect says "You're not going to run a Fuhrman on me". This is a reference to Mark Fuhrman, the Los Angeles police officer who discovered the bloody glove that appeared to implicate O.J. Simpson in the murder of his ex-wife. Fuhrman's credibility as a witness was later damaged when tape recordings showed that he had recently used racial epithets, something he had denied under oath during the trial.
Guest stars Jennifer Esposito and Giancarlo Esposito share the same surname but are not related to each other.
Dennis Boutsikaris has played three different characters throughout the course of the series:
- Episode 1.4 Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die (1990) - Richard "Dick" Berkley.
- Episode 3.4 The Corporate Veil (1992) - Richard "Dick" Berkley.
- Episode 7.3 Good Girl (1996) - Al Archer.
- Episode 8.13 Castoff (1998) - Neil Pressman.
- Episode 11.8 Thin Ice (2000) - Al Archer.
- Episode 12.10 Prejudice (2001) - Al Archer.
- Episode 14.17 Hands Free (2004) - Al Archer.