The following is an unofficial list of episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit that have been Ripped from the headlines.
Season 1
Ep# | Episode Title | Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s) |
---|---|---|
1 | Payback | Inspired by crimes committed during the Bosnian genocide, which included rape and sexual assault. |
4 | Hysteria | The Victor Gant case. |
5 | Wanderlust | Ripped from the pages of the book Lolita. |
7 | Uncivilized | The Nathan Leopold/Richard Loeb case. |
9 | Stocks & Bondage | The Martin Frankel case. |
15 | Entitled | The David Berkowitz (a.k.a. "The Son of Sam") case. |
18 | Chat Room | Based on true stories of pedophiles using chat-rooms to lure out their victims. |
22 | Slaves |
Season 2
Ep# | Episode Title | Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s) |
---|---|---|
2 | Honor | Based on the belief of "honor killing". |
5 | Baby Killer | The Kayla Rolland case. |
8 | Taken | The Disney World fake rape case. |
12 | Secrets | The Roseann Quinn case and the Looking for Mr. Goodbar novel. |
15 | Countdown | The Gary Ridgway (a.k.a. "The Green River Killer") case. |
18 | Manhunt | The Leonard Lake/Charles Ng case. |
20 | Pique | Based on the sexual paraphilia piquerism. |
21 | Scourge | The Jack the Ripper case. |
Season 3
Ep# | Episode Title | Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s) |
---|---|---|
1 | Repression |
|
2 | Wrath | Based on wrongful convictions in the U.S. |
4 | Rooftop | |
5 | Tangled | The Charles "Chuck" Stuart case. |
6 | Redemption | The Albert DeSalvo (a.k.a. "The Boston Strangler") case. |
8 | Inheritance | Based on the controversial debate on the impact of genetic predisposition versus environmental upbringing on the nature of violence. |
10 | Ridicule |
|
14 | Counterfeit | The Craig Peyer case. |
15 | Execution |
|
17 | Surveillance | The Susan Wilson case. |
22 | Competence | Based on the case of Annette R., a mentally handicapped rape victim. |
23 | Silence | The Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandals. |
Season 4
Ep# | Episode Title | Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s) |
---|---|---|
1 | Chameleon | The Aileen Wuornos case. |
3 | Vulnerable | The Kristen Gilbert case. |
6 | Angels |
|
7 | Dolls | |
8 | Waste | Based on the stem cell controversy. |
9 | Juvenile | Based on the ongoing debate about trying juveniles as adults in high-profile cases. |
10 | Resilience | The Fred West/Rosemary West case. |
11 | Damaged | The Tammy Homolka case. |
13 | Rotten | The Abner Louima case. |
15 | Pandora |
|
16 | Tortured | The Jerry Brudos (a.k.a. "The Shoe Fetish Slayer") case. |
19 | Appearances | The JonBenét Ramsey case. |
20 | Dominance | The Wichita Massacre. |
21 | Fallacy | Based on the lives and social difficulties of transgender people. |
24 | Perfect | |
25 | Soulless | The Jesse Pomeroy case. |
Season 5
Ep# | Episode Title | Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s) |
---|---|---|
2 | Manic |
|
3 | Mother | The Margaret Bean-Bayog case. |
4 | Loss | |
5 | Serendipity | The John Schneeberger case. |
7 | Choice | The legality of drinking alcohol while pregnant. |
8 | Abomination |
|
9 | Control | The John Jamelske case. |
10 | Shaken | Based on the criminality of inducing shaken baby syndrome. |
12 | Brotherhood | Based on the ongoing issue of hazing rituals committed by fraternities. |
13 | Hate |
|
14 | Ritual | The "Adam" murder case. |
15 | Families | Ripped from the play Fool for Love. |
17 | Mean | The Shanda Sharer case. |
19 | Sick | The Michael Jackson sex abuse allegations case. |
20 | Lowdown | Based on the phenomenon of "being on the down low" in the African-American community. |
22 | Painless | The alt.suicide.holiday Usenet newsgroup. |
23 | Bound | The Charles Cullen case. |
25 | Head |
|
Season 6
Ep# | Episode Title | Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s) |
---|---|---|
3 | Obscene | The main characters are based on shock jocks Howard Stern, Don Imus, and Bubba the Love Sponge. |
4 | Scavenger |
|
6 | Conscience | |
7 | Charisma | The Marcus Wesson case. |
12 | Identity | The David Reimer case. |
14 | Game | |
16 | Ghost | |
18 | Pure | |
19 | Intoxicated | The Valessa Robinson case. |
22 | Parts | Based on illegal organ trafficking. |
23 | Goliath | Based on the controversial administration of Mefloquine to soldiers deployed to Iraq. |
Season 7
Ep# | Episode Title | Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s) |
---|---|---|
3 | 911 | Inspired by the story of a hoax 911 call made by "Jessica", an eighteen-year-old girl claiming to be aged four and a witness to a crime. |
5 | Strain | The Matthew Shepard case. |
6 | Raw | |
7 | Name | The "Boy in the Box" case. |
8 | Starved | The Terri Schiavo case. |
9 | Rockabye | The epidemic of fake abortion clinics across the U.S. |
10 | Storm | Based on Judith Miller's controversial refusal to disclose her source. |
12 | Infected | Based on controversial research that suggests witnessing gun violence causes people to be more likely to commit acts of gun violence themselves. |
14 | Taboo | The Holly Ashcraft case. |
16 | Gone | The Natalee Holloway case. |
17 | Class | The Elizabeth Paige Laurie cheating scandal. |
18 | Venom | The Raymond Levi Cobb case. |
19 | Fault | The Joseph Edward Duncan III case. |
20 | Fat | Based on the lawsuits against McDonald's filed by Jazlyn Bradley and others. |
21 | Web | The Justin Berry case. |
22 | Influence | The Tom Cruise psychiatric drugs controversy. |
Season 8
Ep# | Episode Title | Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s) |
---|---|---|
1 | Informed | The Earth Liberation Front. |
4 | Uncle | The Andrew Goldstein case. |
6 | Infiltrated | The Natascha Kampusch case. |
8 | Cage | The Candace Newmaker case. |
9 | Choreographed | The Amal Graafstra and Jennifer Tomblin RFID chips controversy. |
11 | Burned | The Roger B. Hargrave case. |
13 | Loophole |
|
15 | Haystack | Based on Melinda Duckett's suicide after an interview with Nancy Grace. |
17 | Sin | The Ted Haggard scandal. |
18 | Responsible | Based on the epidemic of underage drinking and the people who supply them with alcohol. |
20 | Annihilated | |
21 | Pretend | The Treva Throneberry case. |
Season 9
Ep# | Episode Title | Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s) |
---|---|---|
1 | Alternate | |
2 | Avatar | Based on the online video game Second Life. |
3 | Impulsive | |
5 | Harm | The Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal. |
6 | Svengali |
|
7 | Blinded | Based on capital punishment laws in Louisiana, which at the time allowed the executions of violent pedophiles. |
10 | Snitch | Based on the Whosarat.com website. |
11 | Streetwise | The Manson family case. |
13 | Unorthodox | |
14 | Inconceivable |
|
15 | Undercover | Based on prison rape in the U.S. |
16 | Closet | Based on the story of Justin Fashanu. |
17 | Authority |
Season 10
Ep# | Episode Title | Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s) |
---|---|---|
2 | Confession | The Jack McClellan case. |
5 | Retro | The controversial HIV/AIDS denialism community. |
6 | Babes |
|
8 | Persona | A New York Magazine interview with Leslie Crocker Snyder. |
9 | PTSD | The Maria Lauterbach case. |
10 | Smut |
|
11 | Stranger |
|
14 | Transitions | Based on the lives and social difficulties of transgender people. |
15 | Lead | Based on the concerns of high lead levels in toys during the 2007 Chinese export recalls. |
17 | Hell |
|
19 | Selfish | |
20 | Crush |
Season 11
Season 12
Ep# | Episode Title | Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s) |
---|---|---|
1 | Locum |
|
2 | Bullseye | The Kim Sa-rang case. |
3 | Behave |
|
6 | Branded | Ripped from the pages of the Millennium book series. |
10 | Rescue | The 2010 Duke University faux sex thesis controversy. |
11 | Pop | Inspired by the "fight club" phenomenon caused by the book and film of the same name. |
12 | Possessed | The "Slave Company" threat used to subjugate Colleen Stan. |
13 | Mask |
|
16 | Spectacle | Based on the bystander effect phenomenon. |
17 | Pursuit |
|
18 | Bully | The suicide of R. Budd Dwyer during a televised press conference. |
22 | Bang | The recent uproar about reproductive abuse. |
24 | Smoked | The ATF gunwalking scandal. |
Season 13
Ep# | Episode Title | Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s) |
---|---|---|
1 | Scorched Earth | The Dominique Strauss-Kahn case. |
2 | Personal Fouls | |
3 | Blood Brothers |
|
4 | Double Strands | The Darrin Fernandez case. |
7 | Russian Brides | The "Boris and Natasha" bride scams. |
9 | Lost Traveler | |
10 | Spiraling Down | |
12 | Official Story | The Jamie Leigh Jones case. |
15 | Hunting Ground |
|
16 | Child's Welfare | The Jaycee Dugard case. |
18 | Valentine's Day | The Laurie Ann Martinez fake assault case. |
19 | Street Revenge | The Rain City Superhero movement. |
21 | Learning Curve | The Latin King Goonies case. |
23 | Rhodium Nights |
|
Season 14
Season 15
Season 16
Season 17
Season 18
Ep# | Episode Title | Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s) |
---|---|---|
1 | Terrorized |
|
2 | Making a Rapist |
|
3 | Imposter | The Jared Rohrig case. |
4 | Heightened Emotions | Based on the story of Suzy Favor Hamilton. |
5 | Rape Interrupted | The People v. Turner case. |
6 | Broken Rhymes | Inspired by the controversy over gender-neutral bathrooms for transgender people. |
9 | Decline and Fall | The Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations. |
?? | Unstoppable | The Donald Trump and Billy Bush recording and the subsequent sexual misconduct allegations against Trump. |