List of Law & Order Ripped from the Headline episodes

The following is an unofficial list of episodes of Law & Order that have been ripped from the headlines.

Season 1

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Prescription for Death	The death of Libby Zion.
2	Subterranean Homeboy Blues	The Bernhard Goetz (a.k.a. "The Subway Vigilante") case.
3	The Reaper's Helper	The Jack Kevorkian (a.k.a. "Dr. Death") case.
4	Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die	The Robert Chambers (a.k.a. "The Preppie Killer") case.
5	Happily Ever After	The Charles "Chuck" Stuart case.
6	Everybody's Favorite Bagman	The 1986 New York Parking Violations Bureau corruption scandal.
7	By Hooker, By Crook	The Sydney Biddle Barrows (a.k.a. "The Mayflower Madam") case.
8	Poison Ivy	The Edmund Perry case.
9	Indifference	The Joel Steinberg case.
10	Prisoner of Love	Andrew Crispo and the "Death Mask Murder" case. Based on the life of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.
11	Out of the Half-Light	The Tawana Brawley rape allegations.
12	Life Choice	Based on anti-abortion violence in the U.S. The attempted bombing of an abortion clinic in Santee, California, involving anti-abortion activist Cheryl Sullenger.
13	A Death in the Family	The Larry Davis case.
14	The Violence of Summer	The Trisha Meili (a.k.a. "The Central Park jogger") case.
15	The Torrents of Greed (Part I)	Based on the life of John Gotti and the Gambino crime family. The disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. The assassination of Paul Castellano.
16	The Torrents of Greed (Part II)
17	Mushrooms	Inspired by real-life cases of young children hit by stray bullets in large U.S. cities.
18	The Secret Sharers	A supporting character is based on famed Texas defense attorneys Percy Foreman, Dick DeGuerin, and Richard "Racehorse" Haynes.
19	The Serpent's Tooth	The Lyle and Erik Menendez (a.k.a. "The Menendez Brothers") case.
20	The Troubles	The Joe Doherty case.
21	Sonata for Solo Organ	Based on the "Kidney Thief" urban myth.
22	The Blue Wall	The Joe Sánchez case.

Season 2

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Confession	The Oreste Fulminante case.
2	The Wages of Love	The Betty Broderick case.
3	Aria	Based on the death of Marilyn Monroe.
4	Asylum	The David Mooney case.
5	God Bless the Child	The Alex Dale Morris case.
6	Misconception	The Maria Flores case. Inspired by cases of fetal homicide.
7	In Memory Of...	The George Franklin case. The controversial recovered-memory therapy.
8	Out of Control	The St. John's lacrosse case.
9	Renunciation	The Pamela Smart case.
10	Heaven	The Happy Land fire set by Julio González.
11	His Hour Upon the Stage	The Roy Radin case.
12	Star Struck	The Rebecca Schaeffer stalking case. The Theresa Saldana stalking case. The Andrea Evans stalking case.
13	Severance	The 1982 CBS murders.
16	Vengeance	The Albert DeSalvo (a.k.a. "The Boston Strangler") case. The Richard Speck case. The Harvey Glatman case.
17	Sisters of Mercy	The Bruce Ritter sexual abuse and financial impropriety scandal.
18	Cradle to Grave	The Brittany Eichelberger case. The Leona Helmsley (a.k.a. "The Queen of Mean") case.
19	The Fertile Fields	The Brooklyn Crown Heights riot.
20	Intolerance	The Wanda Holloway case.
22	The Working Stiff	The "Keating Five" scandal involving Charles Keating and Michael Milken. The Bank of Credit and Commerce International money laundering scandal, with a supporting character being based on Clark Clifford. Inspired by the life of Asher Edelman. Inspired by the life of Carl Icahn. A supporting character is inspired by Ivan Boesky.

Season 3

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
2	Conspiracy	The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination committed by James Earl Ray. The Malcolm X assassination. The assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. The murder of John Lennon committed by Mark David Chapman. The Huey Long assassination allegedly committed by Carl Weiss. Arthur Bremer's assassination attempts on Richard Nixon and George Wallace.
3	Forgiveness	The Bonnie Garland case.
5	Wedded Bliss	Based on the crackdown of illegal sweatshops in the U.S.
6	Helpless	The Young Soo Koo case. The Ivan C. Namihas case. The Kimble McNair case.
7	Self Defense	The Bernhard Goetz (a.k.a. "The Subway Vigilante") case.
11	Extended Family	The Faye Yager case.
13	Night and Fog	The John Demjanjuk (a.k.a. "Ivan the Terrible") case.
16	Jurisdiction	Based on the territorial jurisdiction law. The Richard Speck case. The "Career Girls Murders" case.
17	Conduct Unbecoming	The Tailhook Association scandal.
20	Securitate	Based on the crime rate in Romania.
21	Manhood	Based on homophobia in the U.S.

Season 4

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Sweeps	Based on a 1988 episode of Geraldo. The Scott Amedure case. The Gary Plauche case.
2	Volunteers	The Larry Hogue (a.k.a. "The Wild Man of 96th Street") case.
3	Discord	The Mike Tyson rape case.
4	Profile	The Joseph Christopher (a.k.a. "The .22-Caliber Killer") case. The Joseph Paul Franklin (a.k.a. "The Racist Killer") case. Inspired by the controversy of Anthony P. Griffin, a black lawyer, defending Ku Klux Klan member Michael Lowe.
5	Black Tie	The Sunny von Bülow case.
7	Apocrypha	The Charles Manson case. Jim Jones and the Jonestown mass murder-suicide. The Timothy Stoen case. The David Koresh case. The 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
8	American Dream	The Ron Levin case.
9	Born Bad	Based on the controversial debate on the impact of genetic predisposition versus environmental upbringing on the nature of violence.
12	Snatched	The Samuel Bronfman II kidnapping hoax.
14	Censure	The Sol Wachtler case.
16	Big Bang	The Ted Kaczynski (a.k.a. "The Unabomber") case, which at the time was still unsolved.
17	Mayhem	The David Berkowitz (a.k.a. "The Son of Sam") case. The Zodiac Killer case and the suspicion placed on Arthur Leigh Allen. The Lorena Bobbitt case.
18	Wager	The James R. Jordan, Sr. murder case.
19	Sanctuary	The Brooklyn Crown Heights riot and killings. The Rodney King case and the subsequent Los Angeles riots. The Reginald Denny case. A supporting character is inspired by civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton. A supporting character is inspired by rioter Damian Williams.
20	Nurture	The Katie Beers case.
21	Doubles	The assault of Nancy Kerrigan. The Monica Seles stabbing case.

Season 5

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Second Opinion	Based on the controversy surrounding the use of laetrile to treat cancer. The Gloria Ramirez case.
3	Blue Bamboo	Inspired by the Japanese use of comfort women during World War II.
4	Family Values	The Amy Fisher (a.k.a. "The Long Island Lolita") case. The Anne Scripps case.
5	White Rabbit	The Sara Jane Olson/Kathleen Soliah case. The Katherine Ann Power case. The Weather Underground anti-war movement. The 1981 Brink's robbery.
6	Competence	The Eleanor Bumpurs case.
7	Precious	The Marybeth Tinning case. The Mary Jane Boot case. The debate over compulsory sterilization in the U.S.
8	Virtue	The Clarence Thomas sexual harassment allegation.
9	Scoundrels	The savings-and-loan crisis involving the failure of Lincoln and American Continental. A supporting character is inspired by Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky.
10	House Counsel	The John Gotti case. A supporting character is inspired by attorney Bruce Cutler.
12	Progeny	The Paul Jennings Hill case.
13	Rage	The Colin Ferguson case and the "black rage" defense.
14	Performance	The Spur Posse case.
15	Seed	The Dr. Cecil Jacobson case.
17	Act of God	Based on insurance cases involving claims of an act of God.
18	Privileged	The Paul Cox case.
19	Cruel and Unusual	The Judge Rotenberg Educational Center controversy.
20	Bad Faith	The James Porter case.
21	Purple Heart	The Anthony Riggs case.
22	Switch	The Karisa Santiago case. The Billy Milligan case.
23	Pride	The assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk committed by Dan White.

Season 6

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Bitter Fruit	The Ellie Nesler case.
3	Savages	Based on New York's controversial capital punishment law.
4	Jeopardy	The Harry Aleman (a.k.a. "The Hook") case and the related suicide of Judge Frank J. Wilson.
5	Hot Pursuit	The Patty Hearst case. The Charles Starkweather/Caril Ann Fugate case.
6	Paranoia	The Gina Grant college admissions controversy. The Sinedu Tadesse case.
7	Humiliation	The Hugh Grant/Divine Brown incident.
8	Angel	The Susan Smith case.
10	Remand	The Kitty Genovese case.
11	Corpus Delicti	The Helen Brach case.
12	Trophy	The Atlanta child murders case involving Wayne Williams.
13	Charm City	The Colin Ferguson case. The Tokyo subway sarin attack. The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
15	Encore	The Henri Désiré Landru (a.k.a. "The Bluebeard of Gambais") case. The Maria Isabel Pinto Monteiro Alves case.
16	Savior	The John List (a.k.a. "The Boogeyman of Westfield") case. The Bradford Bishop case.
18	Atonement	The Linda Sobek case.
21	Pro Se	The Scott Panetti case. The Milton Johnson (a.k.a. "The Weekend Murderer") case. The Herbert Mullin case.
22	Homesick	The Olivia Riner case.
23	Aftershock	The Kitty Genovese case.

Season 7

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Causa Mortis	The Kathleen Weinstein case.
5	Corruption	Based on the 1967-1972 thefts of heroin from the Department Property Clerk's office of the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Based on the work of the Mollen Commission.
6	Double Blind	An aspect of the crime is inspired by The Anarchist Cookbook.
7	Deadbeat	Inspired by the story of Jeffrey Nichols (a.k.a. "King of the Deadbeat Dads"). The Robert Hendy-Freegard case.
9	Entrapment	The Qubilah Shabazz case.
11	Menace	The Deletha Word case.
12	Barter	The Leonard Owen Mundy/Premium Commercial Services Corp. case.
13	Matrimony	The Anna Nicole Smith inheritance case.
15	D-Girl	The O.J. Simpson murder case. The Elizabeth Short (a.k.a. "The Black Dahlia") case.
16	Turnaround
17	Showtime
18	Mad Dog	The Megan Kanka case. The 1997 Kansas v. Hendricks case, which at the time was still being argued.
19	Double Down	The John Leo Brady/Donald Boblit case.
20	We Like Mike	The Ennis Cosby case.
23	Terminal	The Angel Diaz case.

Season 8

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Thrill	The Thomas Koskovich/Jayson Vreeland case.
2	Denial	The Amy Grossberg/Brian Peterson case. The Melissa Drexler (a.k.a. "The Prom Mom") case.
3	Navy Blues	Based on the 1997 sex scandal involving the U.S. Air Force and Lt. Kelly Flinn.
4	Harvest	The 1976 People v. Stewart case. Inspired by a piece on 60 Minutes about people being shot in Los Angeles during drive-bys.
5	Nullification	The Chicago Seven case. The Panther 21 case. The 1981 Brink's robbery. The 1997 North Hollywood shootout. The nationwide outrage of right-wing extremists following events like the Ruby Ridge standoff and the Waco siege. Based on the rise of militia organizations in the U.S. Based on the purported connection between the Aryan Republican Army and the Oklahoma City bombing.
6	Baby, It's You	The JonBenét Ramsey case.
7	Blood	The Baby M case. Based on the life of Anatole Broyard.
8	Shadow	The "shadow counsel" invocation.
9	Burned	The physical decline of Howard Hughes.
10	Ritual	Based on the heightened concern over female genital mutilation.
11	Under the Influence	Inspired by a 1996 hit-and-run incident at Wake Forest University committed by Thomas R. Jones. The legal debate over filing first-degree murder charges for homicides caused by impaired driving.
13	Castoff	The Andrew Cunanan case. Based on the debate of media portrayal of violence influencing criminal behavior.
14	Grief	Inspired by the case of "Kathy", a comatose woman who was raped and impregnated.
15	Faccia a Faccia	The Sammy Gravano case. The Vincent Gigante case.
16	Divorce	The divorce of Joseph P. Kennedy II and Sheila Brewster Rauch.
17	Carrier	The Nushawn Williams case.
18	Stalker	The Richard Farley case.
19	Disappeared	The Ted Kaczynski (a.k.a. "The Unabomber") case.
20	Burden	The Jack Kevorkian (a.k.a. "Dr. Death") case.
21	Bad Girl	The Karla Faye Tucker case.
22	Damaged	The Glen Ridge High School rape case. The Patrick Daly case and the related 1998 People v. Russell case.
23	Tabloid	The deaths of Diana Spencer and Dodi Fayed caused by Henri Paul.

Season 9

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
2	DWB	The Rodney King case. The James Byrd, Jr. case. The term "driving while black". The term "blue wall of silence".
3	Bait	The Chad MacDonald case.
4	Flight	The Brian Stewart case.
5	Agony	The Ted Bundy case.
6	Scrambled	The 1998 Kass v. Kass case.
7	Venom	The Sante and Kenneth Kimes case.
8	Punk	Based on the epidemic of prison rape in the U.S.
9	True North	The Stanley Faulder case.
10	Hate	The murder of Mulugeta Seraw and the subsequent civil lawsuit against Tom Metzger. The Kimberly Dotts murder case. The National Socialist Movement political party. The 1977 National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie case. The 1969 Brandenburg v. Ohio case. The 1941 Milk Wagon Drivers v. Meadowmoor Dairies, Inc. case. The ethical debate about redefining the limitations of freedom of speech to prevent incitement of violence.
11	Ramparts	The 1985 Handschu agreement. The Rampart scandal that affected the CRASH unit of the LAPD. Suspicions and evidence that Donald DeFreeze was an informant for the LAPD and/or the CIA. The controversial COINTELPRO program. The Mississippi Burning murders. The Weather Underground anti-war movement. The term "agent provocateur".
12	Haven	The 1996 George Kobayashi cheating scandal.
13	Hunters	The murders of Chris Foote and Spring Wright.
14	Sideshow	Based on the sex scandal involving Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton.
15	Disciple	The Charity Miranda case.
16	Harm	The Lisa Smart medical malpractice case.
18	Juvenile	The Stephen Glass fabrication scandal.
19	Tabula Rasa	The Rachael and Lisa Martin kidnapping case.
20	Empire	Based on the arguments between real-estate developer Donald Trump, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and the New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner over a new sports stadium.
21	Ambitious	The John Gotti, Jr. case.
22	Admissions	The Jeremy Strohmeyer case.
23	Refuge (1)	Based on the Russian mafia drug money laundering scams during the 1980s and 1990s between JFK Airport and Moscow.
24	Refuge (2)

Season 10

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Gunshow	The École Polytechnique massacre committed by Marc Lépine. The 101 California Street massacre.
2	Killerz	The Mary Bell/Norma Bell case. The James Bulger murder case.
5	Justice	The Sam Sheppard case.
8	Blood Money	Based on Assicurazioni Generali subsidiaries controversially not paying out life insurance for poor Jews in World War II Europe.
9	Sundown	Inspired by the unethical treatment of patients at prison hospital wards.
10	Loco Parentis	A featured fictional video game is inspired by the controversial Doom video game.
11	Collision	Inspired by the debate over whether mentally-ill people have the right to refuse medication.
13	Panic	The Eugene Bennett case.
14	Entitled	The David Berkowitz (a.k.a. "The Son of Sam") case and speculations regarding mob involvement in the case. Based on controversies surrounding the Kennedy family and the so-called "Kennedy curse". The Chappaquiddick incident involving Senator Ted Kennedy. The William Kennedy Smith case. Based on the theories advanced by the book Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution. The Zodiac Killer case.
15	Fools For Love	The Paul Bernardo/Karla Homolka (a.k.a. "The Ken and Barbie Killers") case.
16	Trade This	The Mark O. Barton case.
18	Mega	The United Airlines Flight 629 bombing committed by Jack Gilbert Graham. A supporting character is based on L. Ron Hubbard.
20	Untitled	Inspired by the controversial Immersion (Piss Christ) photograph by Andres Serrano.
21	Narcosis	The public concern of Internet addiction.
22	High & Low	The James McDermott trading scandal.
23	Stiff	The Sunny von Bülow case.
24	Vaya Con Dios	The Charles Horman case.

Season 11

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Endurance	The Janine Albury Thomson case.
2	Turnstile Justice	The Kendra Webdale case.
5	Return	The Samuel Sheinbein case.
6	Burn, Baby, Burn	The H. Rap Brown case. The murder of Phillip Cardillo.
7	Amends	The Martha Moxley/Michael Skakel case.
8	Thin Ice	The Thomas Junta case.
9	Hubris	The Gillian Guess case. The Ted Bundy case.
10	Whose Monkey is it Anyway?	The 1988 Reston African filovirus outbreak.
11	Sunday in the Park with Jorge	The 2000 Puerto Rican Day Parade attacks.
12	Teenage Wasteland	The Jin-Sheng Liu case.
14	A Losing Season	The Rae Carruth case. The arrest of O.J. Simpson.
15	Swept Away - A Very Special Episode	Based on popular reality TV shows such as Big Brother and The Real World.
16	Bronx Cheer	Based on several wrongful convictions that occurred during the tenure of controversial former Bronx County District Attorney Robert T. Johnson.
17	Ego	The Thomas Capano case.
18	White Lie	The "Plan Colombia" initiative.
19	Whiplash	Based on the 1996 "sudden stop" car accidents conspiracy in Chicago.
20	All My Children	The Ennis Cosby case.
21	Brother's Keeper	The James "Whitey" Bulger case. The Danny Greene case. The Ronald and Reginald Kray case.
22	School Daze	The Columbine High School massacre committed by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Other high-profile school shootings that occurred in the late 1990s.
23	Judge Dread	The assassination of John H. Wood, Jr.
24	Deep Vote	The 2000 United States presidential election in Florida and the subsequent, controversial recount.

Season 12

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Who Let the Dogs Out?	The Diane Whipple case.
2	Armed Forces	The Thanh Phong raid controversy surrounding Senator Bob Kerrey. The My Lai massacre.
3	For Love or Money	The Debra Hartmann case.
4	Soldier of Fortune	The South African De Beers corporation diamond conflicts.
6	Formerly Famous	The Bonnie Lee Bakley case.
7	Myth of Fingerprints	The Joyce Gilchrist scandal.
8	The Fire This Time	The Earth Liberation Front. A supporting character is based on the controversial, radical left-wing lawyer William Kunstler.
9	3 Dawg Night	The shooting at Club New York involving Sean Combs (a.k.a. "Puff Daddy)".
10	Prejudice	The James Byrd, Jr. case.
11	The Collar	Based on issues arising from confessional privilege in the U.S.
14	Missing	The Chandra Levy case.
16	Born Again	The Candace Newmaker case. Partially inspired by the Susan Smith case.
18	Equal Rights	The Enron scandal.
19	Slaughter	The 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak. The 1996 Odwalla E. coli outbreak.
21	Foul Play	The Danny Almonte age scandal.
22	Attorney Client	The Craig Rabinowitz case.
24	Patriot	Based on the prejudice against Muslims and Arabs after the September 11 attacks. The Jonathan Idema case.

Season 13

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	American Jihad	The John Walker Lindh case. The trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. The James J. Parker/Robert W. Tulloch case.
2	Shangri-La	The Treva Throneberry case. The legal debate of charging adults with statutory rape for having consensual sex with their underage romantic partners.
3	True Crime	The suicide of Kurt Cobain.
4	Tragedy on Rye	The May 2001 shooting at Carnegie Deli.
5	The Ring	The disappearance of Sneha Anne Philip. Based on the epidemic of insurance scams after the September 11 attacks.
6	Hitman	The Ted Ammon case. Based on cases of hitman-assisted suicides.
7	Open Season	The Lynne Stewart case. Based on the life of William Kunstler.
8	Asterisk	The Jayson Williams case. The "roid rage" side-effect of using anabolic steroids.
9	The Wheel	Inspired by the persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual practice. Partially inspired by the Gang Lu case.
13	Absentia	The Ira Einhorn (a.k.a. "The Unicorn Killer") case.
15	Bitch	The ImClone stock trading case involving Martha Stewart.
16	Suicide Box	A supporting character is inspired by civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton. The 2002 Tri-State Crematory scandal.
17	Genius	The Gary Gilmore case. The Jack Abbott case. Based on the life of Norman Mailer.
18	Maritime	The disappearance of Bison Dele.
20	Kid Pro Quo	The Sanford I. Weill controversy.
21	House Calls	The 2001 shoplifting trial of Winona Ryder.
22	Sheltered	The 2002 Beltway sniper attacks committed by John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. The kidnapping of Steven Stayner by Kenneth Parnell.
23	Couples	The Scott Peterson case. Inspired by cases of fetal abduction. The Clara Harris case.
24	Smoke	The Michael Jackson child molestation scandal.

Season 14

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Bodies	The Gary Ridgway (a.k.a. "The Green River Killer") case. The Robert Garrow case and the related "Buried Bodies" legal ethics case.
2	Bounty	The Jayson Blair plagiarism scandal. The capture of Andrew Luster. Criticism of the affirmative action policy.
3	Patient Zero	The Dr. Richard J. Schmidt case. The 2002–2004 SARS outbreak.
4	Shrunk	The murder of Lana Clarkson committed by Phil Spector.
5	Blaze	The Station nightclub fire.
7	Floater	The Justice Victor I. Barron case.
8	Embedded	Based on the 2003 Geraldo Rivera controversy during the Iraq War.
11	Darwinian	The Gregory Glenn Biggs case.
12	Payback	The trial of Mafia don Vincent Gigante.
14	City Hall	The assassination of James E. Davis. Based on criticism of the FISA Court following the September 11 attacks.
17	Hands Free	The Robert Durst case.
18	Evil Breeds	The John Demjanjuk case.
19	Nowhere Man	The murder of Jonathan Luna.
20	Everybody Loves Raimondo's	The Louis Barone/Albert Circelli, Jr. murder case.
21	Vendetta	The Fred Zain and Glen Woodall cases. The Steve Bartman incident.
22	Gaijin	The Kazuyoshi Miura case. The Charles "Chuck" Stuart case.
24	C.O.D.	Ripped from the pages of Strangers on a Train and its film adaptation.

Season 15

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Paradigm	The Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal.
2	The Dead Wives Club	The 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash. The post-9/11 climate in the U.S. The controversial Low Copy Number DNA profiling technique.
3	The Brotherhood	The Aryan Brotherhood prison gang. The Matthew Hale case involving federal judge Joan Lefkow.
4	Coming Down Hard	Based on the slew of suicides that took place at New York University during the 2003-2004 school year.
5	Gunplay	The Ronell Wilson case.
6	Cut	The Olivia Goldsmith case.
7	Gov Love	The Jim McGreevey/Golan Cipel scandal. The John G. Rowland scandal. The Jason West case.
8	Cry Wolf	The murder attempt on Curtis Sliwa by John A. Gotti.
11	Fixed	Joel Steinberg's release from prison.
12	Mammon	The Ted Ammon case.
13	Ain't No Love	The Jason William Mizell (a.k.a. "Jam Master Jay") case.
14	Fluency	Based on the shortage of flu vaccine in the United States during the winter 2004-2005 flu season. Ripped from the 1949 British noir film The Third Man.
15	Obsession	The Bill O'Reilly sexual harassment scandal. The Celeste Beard case.
16	The Sixth Man	The Ray Lewis murder trial. The brawl that broke out at a 2004 game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons.
17	License to Kill	The Chai Vang case. The Carl Robert Brown case.
18	Dining Out	A supporting character is inspired by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
19	Sects	The Children of God cult and the related Ricky Rodriguez case.
21	Publish and Perish	The Bernard Kerik ethics violation scandal.
24	Locomotion	The 2005 Glendale train crash. The 2004 People v. Payne case.

Season 16

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
3	Ghosts	The JonBenét Ramsey case.
4	Age of Innocence	The Terri Schiavo case.
5	Life Line	Based on the MS-13 international gang.
7	House of Cards	The Bobbie Jo Stinnett case.
8	New York Minute	The Tyrone M. Williams case. Inspired by the Minuteman Project.
9	Criminal Law	The Richard Farley case.
11	Bible Story	Based on the scenario of sacrilege upon religious texts.
12	Family Friend	The New York State Police Troop C evidence planting scandal.
14	Magnet	The Tom Cruise anti-psychiatry comments controversy.
15	Choice of Evils	Based on the controversial debate on the impact of genetic predisposition on the nature of violence. The Gary Gilmore case.
17	America, Inc.	The 2004 Fallujah ambush and the related Helvenston v. Blackwater Security lawsuit.
18	Thinking Makes It So	Based on a 2003 bank robbery in Vista, California, involving the kidnappings of the branch manager, her daughter, and her roommate.
19	Positive	Based on a 1997 report by Public Citizen about unethical AIDS research.
20	Kingmaker	The Valerie Plame (a.k.a. "Plamegate") scandal.

Season 17

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Fame	The Britney Spears/Kevin Federline relationship scandal. The Kate Moss drug use allegations. The Lillo Brancato, Jr. murder case.
2	Avatar	The Rachelle Waterman case.
3	Home Sweet	Based on the July 2006 explosion of an Upper East Side brownstone owned by Dr. Nicholas Bartha.
4	Fear America	The 2004 Toledo terrorism plot. The life and death of Mohammad Salman Hamdani.
5	Public Service Homicide	Inspired by the TV trend from shows such as Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator segment. Perverted-Justice.
6	Profiteer	Based on the 2005 Interceptor body armor package scandal.
7	In Vino Veritas	The Mel Gibson scandal.
8	Release	Based on the numerous controversies surrounding the Girls Gone Wild series and the executive producer Joe Francis.
9	Deadlock	The 2006 West Nickel Mines School shooting. The 2000 Wendy's massacre. The 2004 People v. John Taylor case and subsequent legislative efforts to reinstate the capital punishment law in New York. Allan Legere's escape and killing spree. The Gary Plauche case. The 2006 United States elections.
11	Remains of the Day	The Daniel Wayne Smith case. The Biomedical Tissue Services body part theft scandal. The 1985 Winston v. Lee case. Criticism of the U.S. healthcare system at the time.
12	Charity Case	Based on the 2006 foreign adoption scandal involving pop singer Madonna.
13	Talking Points	The Ann Coulter controversies.
14	Church	The Ted Haggard scandal.
15	Melting Pot	The Adrienne Shelly case. The career and assassination of Theo van Gogh.
16	Murder Book	The O.J. Simpson case and his controversial book If I Did It.
17	Good Faith	The 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District case. The 2006 Alabama church fires.
19	Fallout	The Georgi Markow poisoning case. The Viktor Yushchenko poisoning case. The Alexander Litvinenko poisoning case. The ongoing concern of sex trafficking in Russia. The prisoner exchange between Rudolf Abel and Francis Gary Powers.
20	Captive	The Michael J. Devlin case.
21	Over Here	The Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal.

Season 18

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Called Home	The Dr. Jack Kevorkian (a.k.a. "Dr. Death") case.
2	Darkness	The Enron scandal and the related electricity crisis in California.
3	Misbegotten	Inspired by the controversial "gay gene" studies.
4	Bottomless	The 2005 Pearson v. Chung case. The 2007 Chinese export recalls. Ethics enforcement efforts by multinational retailing corporation Walmart.
5	Driven	The Eva Daley case. The Jena Six case.
6	Political Animal	The Norman Hsu scandal. The Larry Craig sex scandal. The suicide of Vince Foster and the conspiracy theories surrounding it. A supporting character is based on Hillary Clinton.
7	Quit Claim	Based on a number of sub-prime mortgages scandals. Partially ripped from the pages of The Day of the Jackal and its film adaptation. Inspired by controversial invocations of the Patriot Act.
8	Illegal	The 2007 MacArthur Park rallies.
9	Executioner	The botched execution of Ángel Nieves Díaz. Other botched executions that occurred in the U.S. Anonymity laws that shield the identities of people involved in executions. The Steven Hayes/Joshua Komisarjevsky case.
10	Tango	The Jennifer Moore case.
11	Betrayal	The Susan Polk case. The Mary Winkler case. The Rind et al. controversy.
12	Submission	The Lisa Stebic case and the related Amy Jacobson scandal. The Bad Newz Kennels dog fighting scandal involving Michael Vick.
13	Angelgrove	Inspired by the controversial Jesus Camp documentary film.
14	Burn Card	The David D'aloia/James O'Hara case. The 2007 NBA betting scandal involving Tim Donaghy.
15	Bogeyman	Based on the scandals involving Scientology.
16	Strike	The Steven Avery case. The 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.
18	Excalibur	The Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal.

Season 19

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Rumble	Based on the events surrounding the rise of Kimbo Slice. Inspired by alleged abuses of the UK Terrorism Act 2000.
3	Lost Boys	Based on the controversies surrounding Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Mormon fundamentalist term "lost boys".
4	Falling	Based on two construction crane collapses, both in Manhattan during 2008. The Ashley X case.
5	Knock Off	Based on a New York Times report on untrained judges and abuses of justice in upstate New York.
6	Sweetie	The JT LeRoy literary hoax.
7	Zero	Concerns about the health of sitting Chief Justice William Rehnquist immediately prior to his death. A 2005 Boston.com op-ed about the mental health of sitting justices in the U.S. Supreme Court.
8	Chattel	The Mark Schwartz and Christina-Maria Petrowski-Schwartz murder case. The Marie and Willie Pompee case. Other cases of child domestic slavery. The Haitian term "restavek".
9	By Perjury	Glen Gore's perjured testimony against Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz. The Tim Cole case. The ValuJet Flight 592 crash.
10	Pledge	Based on Bruce Edwards Ivins' reported obsession with the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
12	Illegitimate	Based on the story of Jack Rodney Worthington II.
13	Crimebusters	The March 6, 2008 Times Square bombing of a military recruiting station. The Caylee Anthony case and Websleuths' controversial involvement.
14	Rapture	Based on services like Raptureletters.com.
15	Bailout	The global financial crisis of 2007–08. The controversy over corporate bailouts.
16	Take-Out	The Julius and Ethel Rosenberg case.
17	Anchors Away	The Anne Pressly case. The Bernard Madoff investment scandal. The Larry Mendte/Alycia Lane email scandal.
18	Promote This!	The Luis Ramirez murder case.
19	All New	The Charleston Sofa Super Store fire.
21	Skate or Die	Based on the life of John Wesley Jermyn. The Ángel Maturino Reséndiz (a.k.a. "The Railroad Killer") case. The Willie Horton case.
22	The Drowned and the Saved	The Rod Blagojevich corruption scandal. The Max Mosley sex scandal. The Jim McGreevey/Golan Cipel scandal. The Rebecca Schaeffer stalking case.

Season 20

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Memo From The Dark Side	Based on the controversial "Torture Memos".
2	Just a Girl in the World	The Kari Ferrell (a.k.a. "The Hipster Grifter") case.
3	Great Satan	The 2009 Bronx terrorism plot involving the Riverdale Jewish Center.
4	Reality Bites	The Jon & Kate Plus 8 reality television series. The murders of Byrd and Melanie Billings. The story of Nadya Suleman (a.k.a. "Octomom").
5	Dignity	The assassination of George Tiller.
6	Human Flesh Search Engine	The death of David Carradine. The term "human flesh search engine".
7	Boy Gone Astray	The ongoing armed conflict between Mexico and drug cartels, along with its casualties across the border. The narcocorrido sub-genre of Mexican music. The Lord's Resistance Army.
8	Doped	The 2009 Taconic State Parkway crash. Inspired by Pfizer's illegal marketing activities.
11	Fed	The William Sparkman case. The 2009 ACORN undercover videos controversy. The constitutional militia movement.
12	Blackmail	The David Letterman infidelity and blackmail scandal. Partially inspired by the talk show The View.
13	Steel-Eyed Death	The Richard Alden Samuel McCroskey III case. The horrorcore sub-genre of hip-hop music and controversial Juggalo gangs. Based on the 2009 story of an amnesiac girl from Washington state who was found in Manhattan. Inspired by services like Bestgore.com. Based on studies about posttraumatic stress disorder caused by the September 11 attacks. Based on the debate of media portrayal of violence influencing criminal behavior.
14	Boy on Fire	The Derrion Albert case. The Michael Brewer case. The Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal.
15	Brilliant Disguise	The Philip Markoff (a.k.a. the "Craigslist Killer") case.
16	Innocence	Based on the case against the Medill Innocence Project.
17	Four Cops Shot	The Maurice Clemmons case.
18	Brazil	The balloon boy hoax case. The Sean Goldman child abduction case. The Climategate email scandal.
19	Crashers	The 2009 U.S. state dinner security breaches by Michaele and Tareq Salahi. The Haisong Jiang incident.
21	Immortal	Based on the life and legacy of Henrietta Lacks.
23	Rubber Room	Based on the controversy over the New York City Department of Education reassignment centers, also known as "rubber rooms". The Columbine High School massacre committed by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The Pflugerville High School pipe bomb hoax. The William Michael Stankewicz case.

See Also

• List of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Ripped from the Headline episodes
• List of Law & Order: Criminal Intent Ripped from the Headline episodes
• List of Law & Order: Trial By Jury Ripped from the Headline episodes
• List of Law & Order: LA Ripped from the Headline episodes
• List of Law & Order True Crime Ripped from the Headline episodes