This episode is based on the shooting of Kayla Rolland in 2000 at her elementary school. Kayla was shot by a fellow 6 year old student who found the gun while living in his uncle's crack house. The 6 year old was never charged due to his age, but his uncle and mother were.
When Stabler and Benson arrest "Machete" he shows Benson and Stabler a large sum of cash and tells them that he is a business man and they should take it and walk away, just call it the cost of doing business. After looking at the money and walking away Stabler says "call it a class B felony." Stabler is referring to the fact that "Machete" was committing the crime of bribery in the first degree, which is a class B felony and carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. First degree bribery is charged when a person who is guilty of committing, or has been accused of committing, a class A felony attempts to influence a police officer or government official to ignore their offense in exchange for something of value. "Machete" was being arrested for murder in the second degree, which is a class A-I felony, so attempting to offer Benson and Stabler money in exchange for letting him go constituted bribery in the first degree.
Actor Jeffrey DeMunn appears as Chief Assistant District Attorney Charlie Phillips, a role he reprises in Countdown (2001). DeMunn also appeared in eight episodes of Law & Order (1990) and one episode of Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005) as Professor Norman Rothenberg, a professor of law at Hudson University who occasionally worked as a defense attorney if he felt a case could further his social and political agenda.