The Hate Crimes Prevention Act dealt with in this episode is a reference to the real-life "Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act." The real act was named after Matthew Shepard, the University of Wyoming student who in 1998 was beaten and murdered because of his homosexuality (and whose story was the basis for the character of Lowell Lydell, whose homophobic murder figures in several The West Wing (1999) episodes); and James Byrd, Jr, who in 1998 was dragged behind a Jasper, Texas, pickup truck and murdered because he was black. The real bill was signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009, almost ten years after this episode first aired.
This episode holds special meaning for John Spencer, who plays Leo McGarry. Spencer himself was a recovering alcoholic.
The Georgetown Hoya is the real name of the student newspaper of Georgetown University.
This episode is the first of three directed by Ken Olin who starred on Thirtysomething with Timothy Busfield (Danny Concannon) and whose theme song was performed by W.G. Snuffy Walden.