Black, White and Blue 

A lapse in judgment by two police officers results in two African Americans killing a white teen in Harlem. The case promises to set off a racial powder-keg, and drives a split between between Jack McCoy and Adam Schiff.

Director:

Constantine Makris

Writers:

Dick Wolf (created by), Lynne E. Litt (teleplay by)

Stars:

Jerry Orbach, Jesse L. Martin, S. Epatha Merkerson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Orbach	...	Lennie Briscoe
Jesse L. Martin	...	Ed Green
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Anita Van Buren
Sam Waterston	...	Jack McCoy
Angie Harmon	...	Abbie Carmichael
Steven Hill	...	Adam Schiff
Earl Hindman	...	Mr. Riley
James Georgiades	...	Off. Patrick Flannery
Danny Johnson	...	Off. Earl Smith
Kevin Smith	...	Tony's Wife's Nephew
Ellen Foley	...	Annette Tobin
Michael O'Hare	...	Mr. Tobin, Victim's Father
Jacques C. Smith	...	Louis Johnson (as Jacques Smith)
Michael Hyatt	...	Elan Holt
Peewee Love	...	Jerome Weathers (as Pee Wee Love)

Storyline

A lapse in judgment by two police officers results in two African Americans killing a white teen in Harlem. The case promises to set off a racial powder-keg, and drives a split between between Jack McCoy and Adam Schiff.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 March 2000 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films,Studios USA Television

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Kevin Smith contacted his agent and requested to appear in an episode of Law & Order (1990), he was asked if he wanted to be a suspect or defense attorney. Smith said that he simply wanted to play "the guy who leads them to the guy who leads him to the guy who leads them to the suspect." Smith later talked about it in further detail in An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder (2006).

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Connections

Referenced in An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder (2006)

User Reviews

Parsing out the blame

This Law And Order episode has Jerry Orbach and Jesse Martin investigating the beating death of a white teen found in a basement apartment entrance in Harlem. An investigation leads to the arrest of a couple of local youths.

Who say they did it because they saw a white kid being let out of a patrol car and assumed him to be a snitch of some kind. There was a racial incident that night already and tempers were running high.

Just how culpable are the two white officers who let him off? There's a big difference of opinion between Sam Waterston and Steven Hill and with the New York County DA and the Feds. This is what drives the story.

I'm not sure this one was resolved to anyone's satisfaction. In the end it looks everybody has a beef with the resolution.