Sanctuary (13 Apr. 1994)

A Jewish driver kills a black youth in a hit-and-run accident in Harlem and is not prosecuted. The black community's reaction ends in the death of a white motorist, but should the killer be held responsible for his actions?

Director:

Arthur W. Forney

Writers:

Michael S. Chernuchin, William N. Fordes

Stars:

Jerry Orbach, Chris Noth, S. Epatha Merkerson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Orbach	...	Detective Lennie Briscoe
Chris Noth	...	Detective Mike Logan
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Lt. Anita Van Buren
Michael Moriarty	...	Executive A.D.A. Ben Stone
Jill Hennessy	...	A.D.A. Claire Kincaid
Steven Hill	...	D.A. Adam Schiff
Carolyn McCormick	...	Dr. Elizabeth Olivet (scenes deleted)
Tony Todd	...	Reverend Ott
Michael Constantine	...	Joshua Berger
Beatrice Winde	...	Corina Roberts
Susan Blommaert	...	Judge Rebecca Steinman
Lorraine Toussaint	...	Shambala Green
Damon Saleem	...	Daryl Johnson
Kevin Thigpen	...	Isaac Roberts
Elaine Bromka	...	Mrs. De Santis

Storyline

Detectives Briscoe and Logan investigate a hit and run accident that killed a young African-American boy. The case quickly takes on racial overtones when several witnesses identify the driver as a Jew. Before the detectives get too far into the case the driver, Joshua Berger, turns himself in insisting it was an accident. The traffic bureau confirms that, based on all of the evidence at the scene, Berger was not driving fast and did his best to try and avoid hitting the boy. Berger is not charged which outrages the black community and one of its leaders, Reverend Ott. It leads to a riot where a white man is pulled from his car and beaten to death in front of his wife. Using videotape the police the police identify the main assailant but he claims asylum in a local church.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 April 1994 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 1997, TV Guide named this one of television's best individual series episodes of all time.

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Quotes

Adam Schiff: What happened to "Give me your huddled masses"? What the hell has happened to this city?

User Reviews

One of the best

I always thought this was the best episode ever made of Law and Order. Long before they went down the path of ending an episode neatly by having unrealistic confessions or discoveries, LAO made well-written, excellently acted episodes that made you actually surprised this was on television. Usually shows like this are left-leaning propaganda machines, and its ironic that Michael Moriarty would leave the show for just that reason, but this is an example of all sides of a volatile issue getting a fair look. No show since the airing of this one episode in 1994 has come close to depicting fair insight into the number one issue in the USA.