User:ContributingHelperOnTheSide/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. The term "impaired physician".
2	Subterranean Homeboy Blues	The Bernhard Goetz (a.k.a. "The Subway Vigilante") case. The Michael Carmen case and the involvement of American crime watch group Crime Stoppers through crime playout reenactment. Partially ripped from the 1981 American exploitation film Ms .45.
3	The Reaper's Helper	The Marty James case. The epidemic of assisted suicides of gay/bi men infected with HIV during the early AIDS epidemic in the U.S.
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. The Ruth Snyder case. Ripped from the pages of Double Indemnity and its film adaptation.
6	Everybody's Favorite Bagman	The 1986 New York Parking Violations Bureau corruption scandal and the related suicide of Donald Manes. A supporting character is based on journalist Jimmy Breslin. Operation Abscam and the related involvement of career criminal and informant Mel Weinberg.
7	By Hooker, By Crook	The Sydney Biddle Barrows (a.k.a. "The Mayflower Madam") case.
8	Poison Ivy	The Clifford Glover case. The Bernard Whitehurst case. The Mark Davidson 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. The death of Albert Dekker. The death of Bob Crane.
11	Out of the Half-Light	The Tawana Brawley rape allegations.
12	Life Choice	Based on anti-abortion violence in the U.S. The 1987 Family Planning Associates attempted bombing, involving anti-abortion activist Cheryl Sullenger. The Nezar al-Hindawi case.
13	A Death in the Family	The Larry Davis case. Based on the life of Frank Serpico. The 1990 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department narcotics corruption scandal and the suspected involvement of the James Henry Atkinson case. The Stephen Richard Smith case involving Farrell Tucker.
14	The Violence of Summer	The Trisha Meili (a.k.a. "The Central Park Jogger") case. The Maggie de la Riva rape 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. The John Favara case.
16	The Torrents of Greed (Part II)
17	Mushrooms	The Benjamin O'Garro case. The epidemic of young children hit by stray bullets in large U.S. cities.
18	The Secret Sharers	The Jose Abreu case. The Ken McElroy case. A supporting character is based on famed Texas defense attorneys Percy Foreman, Dick DeGuerin, and Richard "Racehorse" Haynes. Partially ripped from the 1975 Italian film The Flower in His Mouth.
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 heist" urban myth.
22	The Blue Wall	The Joe Sánchez case. The term "blue wall of silence". The Watergate scandal.

Season 2

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Confession	The history of corruption in the American construction industry associated with the mafia.
2	The Wages of Love	The Betty Broderick case.
3	Aria	Based on the death of Marilyn Monroe. Partially ripped from the pages of Mommie Dearest and its film adaptation.
4	Asylum	The David Mooney case.
5	God Bless the Child	The Alex Dale Morris case. The Loren Williamson case.
6	Misconception	The Maria Flores case. The crime and legal statutes of fetal homicide.
7	In Memory Of...	The George Franklin case. The Stanley Rice case. The Dean Corll (a.k.a. "The Candy Man") case. The controversial recovered-memory therapy practice.
8	Out of Control	The St. John's lacrosse case.
9	Renunciation	The Pamela Smart case.
10	Heaven	The Happy Land fire. The Denmark Place fire. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The Rudolph Lee case.
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. The Birgit Nilsson stalking case involving Nell Theobold.
13	Severance	The Donald Nash case.
15	Trust	The Jesse Pomeroy (a.k.a. "The Boston Boy Fiend") case.
16	Vengeance	The Albert DeSalvo (a.k.a. "The Boston Strangler") case. The Rodney Alcala (a.k.a. “The Dating Game Killer”) case.
17	Sisters of Mercy	The Bruce Ritter sexual abuse and financial impropriety scandal. The McMartin preschool trial.
18	Cradle to Grave	The Cynthia Feliccia case. The Leona Helmsley (a.k.a. "The Queen of Mean") case.
19	The Fertile Fields	The Pinchos Jaroslawicz case. The Michelle Confait case. Partially ripped from the 1991 crime film Homicide.
20	Intolerance	The Wanda Holloway case.
21	Silence	The John C. Chenoweth case. The Victor Chang case. Partially ripped from the 1961 British neo-noir film Victim.
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)
1	Skin Deep	The John Valverde case. The Jack Cone case.
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.
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 Frank L. Felicetti case. The Bernhard Goetz (a.k.a. "The Subway Vigilante") case. The “castle doctrine” defense.
8	Prince of Darkness	The Manuel de Dios Unanue case involving the Cali Cartel. The Gary Plauché case.
11	Extended Family	The Faye Yager case. The Woody Allen sexual assault allegation. The increase of facilitated kidnappings to return kidnapped children through voluntary action services.
13	Night and Fog	The John Demjanjuk (a.k.a. "Ivan the Terrible") case.
16	Jurisdiction	The "Career Girls Murders" case and the related George Whitmore, Jr. case. The Richard Speck case. Based on the territorial jurisdiction law. Ripped from the 1972 British thriller film Frenzy.
17	Conduct Unbecoming	The Tailhook Association scandal. The ongoing crisis of sexual assault in the U.S. military.
18	Animal Instinct	The Animal Liberation Front and the related Operation Bite Back.
19	Virus	The Robert Tappan Morris case involving the Morris worm. The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center hacking by the 414s. The 1990 Jefferson Einstein Hospital infant deaths. The Richard Angelo case.
20	Securitate	Based on the crime rate in Romania.
21	Manhood	The Darrell Lunsford case. The Paul Broussard case. Good Samaritan laws and duty to rescue laws regarding civil servants.

Season 4

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Sweeps	The 1988 Geraldo talk show brawl episode. The Gary Plauché case. The transgender community special on The Phil Donahue Show. The rising popularity of tabloid talk shows. Ripped from the 1976 satire film Network.
2	Volunteers	The Larry Hogue (a.k.a. "The Wild Man of 96th Street") case. The Rodney L. Sumter case.
3	Discord	The rape trial of Mike Tyson.
4	Profile	The Joseph Christopher (a.k.a. "The .22-Caliber Killer") case. The Joseph Paul Franklin (a.k.a. "The Racist Killer") case. The John Ausonius (a.k.a. "The Laser Man") case. Inspired by the controversy of Anthony P. Griffin, a black lawyer, defending Ku Klux Klan member Michael Lowe.
5	Black Tie	The Florence Maybrick case. The Ann Woodward case. The trial of Claus von Bülow.
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	The Eric Smith case. The Stuart Tay case. The Mary Bell case. The Beth Thomas case. The Willie Bosket case. Inspired by cases of psychopathic behavior observed in children. The debunked XYY syndrome thesis and resulting hysteria allegedly equating the diagnosis to male violent tendencies. Based on the controversial debate of nature versus nurture. The Gary Gilmore case.
11	Golden Years	The Mary Bowe case.
12	Snatched	The John Paul Getty III kidnapping case. The Samuel Bronfman II kidnapping hoax.
13	Breeder	The Angela Andrews/Terry Pounds case. The "Baby M" case.
14	Censure	The Sol Wachtler case.
15	Kids	The Adrian "Ajax" Precia case. The Kashaine Green case. The Joey Fischer case.
17	Mayhem	The murder of James Weber by David Bullock (a.k.a. "The .38 Caliber Killer"). The David Berkowitz (a.k.a. "The Son of Sam") case. The "Zodiac Killer" case and the suspicion placed on Arthur Leigh Allen. The “Phantom Killer” case and the suspicion placed on Youell Sweeney. The murder of Albert DeSalvo. The Lorena Bobbitt case and the subsequent rise of copycat attacks. The Bertha Boronda case. The Leslie Torres case.
18	Wager	The Michael Jordan gambling scandal. The James R. Jordan, Sr. murder case. The Eddie Dow case. The supporting antagonist is inspired by James “Slim” Boulder.
19	Sanctuary	The Brooklyn Crown Heights riot and killings. The Latasha Harlins case and its relation to the 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. The Mary Ellen Wilson case.
21	Doubles	The assault of Nancy Kerrigan. The Monica Seles stabbing case. The Katarina Witt stalking case.

Season 5

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Second Opinion	The Gloria Ramirez (a.k.a. "The Toxic Lady") case. Based on the controversy surrounding the use of laetrile to treat cancer. The Linda Hazzard (a.k.a. "The Starvation Doctor") case.
2	Coma	The Johann Otto Hoch (a.k.a. "The Chicago Bluebeard") case. The Josephine Gray (a.k.a. “The Black Widow”) case. The James N. Wood/Bruce Beauchamp case.
3	Blue Bamboo	The 1993 Patsy Jones case in Florida. The Chuck Traynor/Linda Lovelace case. The controversial “comfort women” practice.
4	Family Values	The Wayne Lonergan case and the related 1946 novel The Big Clock. The Anne Scripps case. The Virginia Larzelere case.
5	White Rabbit	The Sara Jane Olson case. The Katherine Ann Power case. The Weather Underground anti-war movement. The 1981 Brink's robbery.
6	Competence	The Edmund Perry case.
7	Precious	The Joseph Bales/Helene Lemay case. The Marybeth Tinning case. The Waneta Hoyt case. The Darlene Johnson case. The debate over compulsory sterilization in the U.S.
8	Virtue	The Chappaquiddick incident involving Senator Ted Kennedy and Mary Jo Kopechne. The Brock Adams sexual assault allegations. The Clarence Thomas sexual harassment allegation. The Richard Allen Minsky (a.k.a. "The Con Artist Rapist") case.
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 murder of John Britton by Paul Jennings Hill. The murder of David Gunn by Michael Frederick Griffin. The John Burt case. The Army of God radical Christian movement involving Donald Spitz. The David Trosch controversies and his related suspension by Oscar Hugh Lipscomb.
13	Rage	The trial of Colin Ferguson and the related "black rage" defense.
14	Performance	The "Spur Posse" case. The urban legend of snuff film industrialization and the related controversial 1976 film Snuff. Ripped from the 1995 made-for-TV film She Fought Alone.
15	Seed	The Dr. Cecil Jacobson case. The “savior sibling” controversy.
16	Wannabe	The Patrick Daly case.
17	Act of God	Based on insurance cases involving claims of an act of God.
18	Privileged	The Paul Cox case. The trial of Joel Rifkin and the related "adoption syndrome" defense. Partially ripped from the pages of Mommie Dearest and its film adaptation.
19	Cruel and Unusual	The Judge Rotenberg Educational Center controversy. The biases against autism spectrum disorder and the related debates on proper and effective treatment. The Luis Allende case. The Kevin Thorpe case. The recent increase of deaths in NYPD police custody attributed to beating and asphyxiation. The facilitated communication controversy.
20	Bad Faith	The James Porter case. The Michael J. O’Hara case involving former Bronx prosecutor and FBI agent Jim Clemente.
21	Purple Heart	The Anthony Riggs case. The Stella Nickell case.
22	Switch	The Billy Milligan case. The Cathleen Krauseneck case. The controversial recovered-memory therapy practice and the related Gary Ramona case.
23	Pride	The assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk committed by Dan White. The Representative Barney Frank/Steve Gobie scandal.

Season 6

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Bitter Fruit	The Marianne Bachmeier case. The Alice Crimmins case.
3	Savages	The Christopher Hoban case. Based on New York's controversial capital punishment law.
4	Jeopardy	The Jim and Artie Mitchell case. The Richard Farley case. 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 Bonnie Parker/Clyde Barrow 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.
9	Blood Libel	The Norman Thomas High School antisemitism incidents.
10	Remand	The Winston Moseley case. The Matias Reyes (a.k.a. "The East Side Slasher") case.
11	Corpus Delicti	The Chicago “horse murders” conspiracy and the related Helen Brach case. Inspired by the life and career of Joan Robinson Hill.
12	Trophy	The Atlanta child murders case involving Wayne Williams. The "Charlie Chop-Off" case and the related suspicion placed on Erno Soto. The Colin Pitchfork case and the related false confession of Richard Buckland. Partially ripped from the 1972 giallo film Who Saw Her Die?.
13	Charm City	The Colin Ferguson case. The Tokyo subway sarin attack. The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
15	Encore	The Johann Otto Hoch (a.k.a. "The Chicago Bluebeard") case. The Josephine Gray (a.k.a. “The Black Widow”) case. The Maria Isabel Pinto Monteiro Alves case. The Christopher Hightower case.
16	Savior	The John List (a.k.a. "The Boogeyman of Westfield") case. The Bradford Bishop case. The Jessica Wiseman/Douglas Christopher Thomas case. The Hooters restaurant franchise.
17	Deceit	The Frank Vacarro case.
18	Atonement	The Tammy Lynn Leppert case.
19	Slave	The Robert Sandifer case.
20	Girlfriends	The Alex Kelly (a.k.a. “The Preppy Rapist”) case.
21	Pro Se	The 1986 Juan Gonzalez case. The 1983 Joliet, Illinois ceramic shop massacre and the related Milton Johnson (a.k.a. "The Weekend Killer") case. The Sylvia Seegrist case. The Robert George Irwin (a.k.a. "The Mad Sculptor") case. The Michael Laudor case. The Herbert Mullin case. The Jason McEnaney lawsuit related to the Ralph Tortorici case. The Scott Panetti case. The David Riggins case. Inspired by the life of John Nash and his biography A Beautiful Mind.
22	Homesick	The Olivia Riner case. The Linda Lin case and the related Beech-Nut baby food product contamination panic. The epidemic of baby food contamination by pesticides.
23	Aftershock	The Kitty Genovese case. The Deletha Word case.

Season 7

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Causa Mortis	The Kathleen Weinstein case.
2	I.D.	The Sarah Allman/Stevie Mitchell case.
3	Good Girl	The death of Sam Cooke. The Christian Prince case. The killing of Imagio Santana by Keila Pulinario.
4	Survivor	The Charles T. Sinclair (a.k.a. “The Coin Shop Killer”) case. The Pinchos Jaroslawicz case.
5	Corruption	The Roger Rogerson case. The 1967-1972 thefts of "French Connection" heroin from the New York City Police Department and related corruption in the Narcotics Bureau's Special Investigative Division. Based on the works of the Knapp and Mollen Commissions.
6	Double Blind	The assassination of Allard Lowenstein by Dennis Sweeney. The Rice v. Paladin Press lawsuit involving Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors.
7	Deadbeat	Inspired by the story of Jeffrey Nichols (a.k.a. "King of the Deadbeat Dads"). The David Russell Miller case. Partially ripped from the 1972 giallo film The Case of the Scorpion's Tail.
9	Entrapment	The Qubilah Shabazz case.
11	Menace	The Deletha Word case.
12	Barter	The Leonard Owen Mundy case and the related Premium Commercial Services Corp. scandal.
13	Matrimony	The Anna Nicole Smith inheritance case.
14	Working Mom	The Aileen Wuornos (a.k.a. "The Florida Highway Killer") 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 John Albert Taylor case. The Lisa Ann French case. The 1997 Kansas v. Hendricks case, which at the time was still being argued.
19	Double Down	The Gregory Powell/Jimmy Lee Smith case involving Karl Francis Hettinger and the related book The Onion Field and its film adaptation. The John Leo Brady/Donald Boblit case.
20	We Like Mike	The Ennis Cosby case.
21	Passion	Partially ripped from the 1991 British neo-noir film Dead Again.
22	Past Imperfect	Inspired by the life and career of model Bettie Page (a.k.a. “The Queen of Pinups”). The Nancy Spungen/Sid Vicious case.
23	Terminal	The Ali Hassan Abu Kamal case. 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. Inspired by the story of Kara Hultgreen.
4	Harvest	The Katrina Scott case. The 1971 Daniel Smith 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 nationwide outrage of right-wing extremists following the Ruby Ridge standoff and the Waco siege, resulting in events like the Oklahoma City bombing. Based on the rise of militia organizations in the U.S.
6	Baby, It's You	The JonBenét Ramsey case. The Linda Sobek case.
7	Blood	The "Baby Jessica" case. Based on the life of Anatole Broyard.
8	Shadow	Based on Operation Greylord. The "shadow counsel" invocation.
9	Burned	The Austin Messner case. The physical decline of Howard Hughes. The Francis Perlmutter case. The Wanda Jean Wadle case.
10	Ritual	Based on the heightened concern over female genital mutilation.
11	Under the Influence	The Gerard Finneran case. The legal debate over filing first-degree murder charges for homicides caused by impaired driving.
12	Expert	The term “going postal” and the related epidemic of postal office murders and attacks. The Jeb Taylor controversies involving the “urban survival syndrome” defense in the Daimion Osby case.
13	Castoff	The Andrew Cunanan case. The Gordon Cummins (a.k.a. "The Blackout Ripper") case. The Ricky Lee Green case. Based on the effects of violence in mass media criminal behavior.
14	Grief	The Kathy Cobb case.
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 Melanie Howell murder case. The Cindy James case. The Richard Farley case.
19	Disappeared	The disappearances of Camden Sylvia and Michael Sullivan. The Ted Kaczynski (a.k.a. "The Unabomber") case.
20	Burden	The Michael J. Swango case. The Genene Jones case. The Robert Latimer case. Inspired by controversial scandals of increasing risk to patient safety from trends of medical malpractice in medical centers and clinics. The legal and ethical debates of a person's right to die based on the burden of disease outweighing disability rights.
21	Bad Girl	The Nina Mackey case. The Karla Faye Tucker case.
22	Damaged	The Glen Ridge High School rape case. The Darryl Sharpe case.
23	Tabloid	The deaths of Diana Spencer and Dodi Fayed caused by Henri Paul. Based on the sex scandal involving Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton.
24	Monster	The Shatoya Currie (a.k.a. "Girl X") case, whose name at the time was not released. The La-Tonya Wallace (a.k.a. “The Angel of Reservoir Hill”) case. The Megan Kanka case. The Oreste Fulminante case.

Season 9

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
0.5	Exiled: A Law & Order Movie	The Sallie-Anne Huckstepp case. The Mark Putnam case.
1	Cherished	The Beth Thomas case. The crimes and legal statutes of child selling and adoption fraud. The child laundering crisis.
2	DWB	The Rodney King case. The James Byrd, Jr. case. The Emmett Till case. The Ernest Sayon case and the related Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit controversies. 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 Carl Eugene Watts (a.k.a. "The Sunday Morning Slasher") case. The Richard Cottingham (a.k.a. "The Times Square Killer") case. The Alun Kyte (a.k.a. "The Midlands Ripper") case and the subsequent Operation Enigma. The Ted Bundy case. The trial of Buford O. Furrow.
6	Scrambled	The Maureen and Steven Kass case.
7	Venom	The Sante and Kenneth Kimes case. Ripped from the pages of The Grifters.
8	Punk	The Donovan Parks case. The Joan Little case.
9	True North	The Patrizia Reggiani (a.k.a. "The Black Widow") case. 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 the 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	The Mary Pinchot Meyer case. The Warren Commission and the related murder of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby. The Army-McCarthy hearings.
15	Disciple	The Charity Miranda case.
16	Harm	The Lisa Smart medical malpractice case.
18	Juvenile	The Catherine and Andrew Suh case. The Thelma Todd case. The Amy Fisher (a.k.a. “The Long Island Lolita”) case. The assassination of David Graham Phillips. The Stephen Glass fabrication scandal.
19	Tabula Rasa	The Rachael and Lisa Martin kidnapping case.
20	Empire	The William Marsh Rice case involving Albert T. Patrick. The sports stadium feud between real-estate developer Donald Trump, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and the New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. The Mark Fuhrman scandals.
21	Ambitious	The John Gotti, Jr. case.
22	Admissions	The Betsy Aardsma case. The Robert Chambers (a.k.a. “The Preppie Killer”) case. 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 and the resulting civil lawsuits against gun manufacturer Intratec. The Richard Speck case.
2	Killerz	The Mary Bell/Norma Bell case. The James Bulger murder case.
3	DNR	The assassination of Richard J. Daronco. The Robert O. Marshall case. The Dorothy DeTore case. The Larry Gene Heath case.
5	Justice	The Sam Sheppard case.
6	Marathon	The Jacqueline Frezza case. The 1981 Luis Guzman case.
7	Patsy	The Cindy James 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	The legal statutes and debates of patient compliance to psychiatric treatment.
13	Panic	The Eugene Bennett case involving Patricia Cornwell.
14	Entitled	The David Berkowitz (a.k.a. "The Son of Sam") case and speculations regarding mob involvement in the case. The "Monster of Florence" case and the suspected involvement of the Vinci family. Based on controversies surrounding the Kennedy family and the so-called "Kennedy curse". The Chappaquiddick incident involving Senator Ted Kennedy and Mary Jo Kopechne. The William Kennedy Smith rape cases. 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. The Daniel Camargo Barbosa (a.k.a. "The Sadist of El Charquito") case. The Gerald and Charlene Gallego (a.k.a. "The Love Slave Killers") case. The Ian Brady/Myra Hindley (a.k.a. “The Moors Murderers”) case. The James Marlow/Cynthia Coffman case. The Marc Dutroux case.
16	Trade This	The Stratton Oakmont penny stock scam involving Jordan Belfort.
17	Black, White and Blue	The Willie Turks case. Harlem’s history of civil unrest. The 1988 Tompkins Square Park police riot.
18	Mega	The Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 108 bombing. A supporting character is based on L. Ron Hubbard.
19	Surrender Dorothy	The "surrendered wife" movement inspired by the book of the same name.
20	Untitled	Inspired by the controversial Immersion (Piss Christ) photograph by Andres Serrano.
21	Narcosis	The Ah Toy case. The epidemic of sex trafficking in the United States through illicit massage parlors. The Chander Matta case. The public concern of Internet addiction. Partially ripped from the 1983 film Risky Business.
22	High & Low	The Jeanne Clery case. The James McDermott trading scandal.
23	Stiff	The Sunny von Bülow case. The Elizabeth Barlow case. Based on the sexual paraphilia somnophilia. The Kristi Ann Koslow case. Ripped from the pages of Malice Aforethought and its adaptations.
24	Vaya Con Dios	The Charles Horman case. Ripped from the 1989 film Cat Chaser.

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.
3	Dissonance	The Helen Mintiks case.
5	Return	The Samuel Sheinbein case.
6	Burn, Baby, Burn	The H. Rap Brown case.
7	Amends	The Martha Moxley/Michael Skakel case.
8	Thin Ice	The Thomas Junta case.
9	Hubris	The Robert Henry-Freegard case. The Curtis Flowers case. The Ted Bundy case. The Gillian Guess 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. The Trisha Meili (a.k.a. "The Central Park Jogger") case. The Seattle Mardi Gras riot and the related murder of Kris Kime.
12	Teenage Wasteland	The Jin-Sheng Liu case. The Willie Bosket case. The William Wayne Thompson case. The controversy of capital punishment for juveniles in the United States.
13	Phobia	The outrage over adoption by same-sex couples in the United States.
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	The Robert T. Johnson wrongful conviction scandals.
17	Ego	The Thomas Capano case. The Robert Bierenbaum case.
18	White Lie	The "Plan Colombia" initiative.
19	Whiplash	The Jose Luis Lopez Perez case. Based on the 1996 "sudden stop" car accidents conspiracy in Chicago.
20	All My Children	The Autumn Jackson 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. The Thurston High School shooting. The 1990s epidemic of school shootings in the United States. The Beth Thomas case.
23	Judge Dread	The assassination of John H. Wood, Jr. The attempted assassination of President Harry S. Truman. The Stuart Winkler case and the related attempted assassination of Leslie Crocker Snyder.
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. The epidemic of dog fighting in the United States.
2	Armed Forces	The Thanh Phong raid controversy surrounding Senator Bob Kerrey. The Mỹ Lai massacre.
3	For Love or Money	The Debra Hartmann case.
4	Soldier of Fortune	The De Beers corporation diamond conflicts.
6	Formerly Famous	The Bonnie Lee Bakley case.
7	Myth of Fingerprints	The Joyce Gilchrist scandal involving Bob Macy. The Fred Zain case.
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 trial of Colin Ferguson and the related "black rage" defense. Based on the ongoing debate on whether extreme racism meets the criteria for a delusional mental disorder. Ripped from the 1993 film Falling Down.
11	The Collar	The legal statutes and debated over confessional privilege in the U.S. Partially ripped from the 1957 film noir The Midnight Story.
13	DR 1-102	The William Lee Neal case and the related Mark Pautler scandal.
14	Missing	The Chandra Levy case.
16	Born Again	The Candace Newmaker case.
17	Girl Most Likely	The Shanda Sharer case. Inspired by the story of Leslie Reiter and Missy Peters. The Santa Clara High School sexual harassment scandal involving the “Teddie Bears” and the related 1996 made-for-TV film Stand Against Fear.
18	Equal Rights	The Joseph Pikul case. The Enron scandal.
19	Slaughter	The 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak. The 1996 Odwalla E. coli outbreak. Inspired by the novel The Jungle by muckraker Upton Sinclair.
21	Foul Play	The Danny Almonte age scandal.
22	Attorney Client	The Craig Rabinowitz case.
23	Oxymoron	The Nicky Barnes case.
24	Patriot	The attempted murder of Faisal Zagallai by Eugene A. Tafoya. The William Masters (a.k.a. "The Tagger Vigilante") case. The Jonathan Idema case. Based on the prejudice against Muslims and Arabs after the September 11 attacks.

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 Nancy Spungen/Sid Vicious case. The suicide of Kurt Cobain. The relationship between John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and the subsequent break-up of the Beatles.
4	Tragedy on Rye	The Jennifer Stahl case. The Michelle Confait case.
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. Ripped from the pages of Double Indemnity and its film adaptation.
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.
12	Under God	The murder of Kevin Furman by Benita Fox.
13	Absentia	The Ira Einhorn (a.k.a. "The Unicorn Killer") case.
14	Star Crossed	The Alton Coleman/Debra Brown case.
15	Bitch	The ImClone stock trading case involving Martha Stewart.
16	Suicide Box	The Matias Reyes (a.k.a. "The East Side Slasher") case and the related Trisha Meili (a.k.a. "The Central Park Jogger") case. The murder of Adam Walsh, of which Ottis Toole is long suspected, but never confirmed, of perpetrating. The death of Marsha P. Johnson and the subsequent protests regarding the investigation. 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 involving Norman Mailer. The “death row phenomenon” involved in volunteer execution.
18	Maritime	The disappearance of Bison Dele.
20	Kid Pro Quo	The murder of Barbara Thrower by Frank Collins. The Sanford I. Weill controversy.
21	House Calls	The 2001 shoplifting trial of Winona Ryder. The Joe Jackson domestic abuse allegations.
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	Partially ripped from the 1999 film Double Jeopardy. The Erik and Lyle Menendez (a.k.a. "The Menendez Brothers") case. The Scott Peterson case. The crime and legal statutes of fetal abduction. The Clara Harris case. The Tracie Andrews case.
24	Smoke	Inspired by the life and legal troubles of deceased singer Michael Jackson. Inspired by the life and career of comedian and actor Jim Carrey.

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 Richard Grissom case. The confessions and execution of Ted Bundy. The Robert Garrow case and the related "Buried Bodies" legal ethics case. Partially ripped from the 1988 film Criminal Law.
2	Bounty	The Jayson Blair plagiarism scandal. The capture of Andrew Luster. Criticism of the affirmative action policy.
3	Patient Zero	The 2002–2004 SARS outbreak. The Richard J. Schmidt case. The Matthew L. Moor/David Hansen case.
4	Shrunk	The murder of Lana Clarkson committed by Phil Spector. The Ruggero Jucker case. The Eugene Landy controversies. Partially ripped from the 1991 British neo-noir film Dead Again.
5	Blaze	The Station nightclub fire.
7	Floater	The Justice Victor I. Barron case. A supporting character is inspired by economist Ravi Batra.
8	Embedded	Based on the 2003 Geraldo Rivera controversy during the Iraq War.
9	Compassion	The Matthew Cox case.
11	Darwinian	The Gregory Glenn Biggs case. The Lizzie Grubman case. The plight of homelessness in the United States.
12	Payback	The trial of Mafia don Vincent Gigante.
13	Married with Children	The Isabella Miller-Jenkins case. The Sharon Bottoms Mattes lawsuit.
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 (a.k.a. "Ivan the Terrible") case. Ripped from the novella Apt Pupil and its film adaptation.
19	Nowhere Man	The murder of Jonathan Luna.
20	Everybody Loves Raimondo's	The Louis Barone/Albert Circelli, Jr. murder case.
21	Vendetta	The John Eichinger case. The Glen Woodall case and the related Fred Zain scandal. The Frederick Charles Wood case. The Steve Bartman incident.
22	Gaijin	The Kazuyoshi Miura case. The Anthony Ler case. The Charles "Chuck" Stuart case.
23	Caviar Emptor	The Omaima Nelson case. Partially ripped from the play Witness for the Prosecution and its adaptations.
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 and the related murder of Manadel al-Jamadi.
2	The Dead Wives Club	The 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash. The post-9/11 climate in the U.S. The Dead Wives Club led by Charlene Fiore. 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.
10	Enemy	The Ahmed Wali Karzai drug trafficking scandals and the related reports of CIA involvement in trafficking operations. The Hamid Karzai corruption scandals.
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	The shortage of flu vaccines in the United States during the winter 2004-2005 flu season. The Hu Wanlin case. Ripped from the 1949 British noir film The Third Man.
15	Obsession	The Bill O'Reilly sexual harassment lawsuit. The Celeste Beard case.
16	The Sixth Man	The Ray Lewis murder trial. The "Malice at the Palace" brawl. The Latrell Sprewell coach assault incident. Ripped from the pages of the 1995 novel The Fan and its 1996 film adaptation.
17	License to Kill	The Chai Vang case. The Carl Robert Brown case.
18	Dining Out	Inspired by the lives and careers of celebrity chefs, including Gordon Ramsay and José Andrés. The Robert Chambers (a.k.a. "The Preppie Killer") case. The Gillian Guess case.
19	Sects	The Children of God cult and the related Ricky Rodriguez case. The Ganas cult controversies.
20	Tombstone	Ripped from the pages of Presumed Innocent and its film adaptation. The Christopher Dale Flannery (a.k.a. "Mr. Rent-a-Kill") case.
21	Publish and Perish	The Star Stowe case. Inspired by the life and career of Pamela Anderson. The Bernard Kerik ethics violation scandal.
23	In God We Trust	The 2005 East 178th Street fire. The 2004 Victor Popo case in Brooklyn.
24	Locomotion	The 2005 Glendale train crash. The 2004 People v. Payne case.

Season 16

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Red Ball	The Rickel Knox case. The Pam Basu case.
2	Flaw	The Richard Allen Minsky (a.k.a. "The Con Artist Rapist") case. The Sante and Kenneth Kimes case. The Amy Grossberg/Brian Peterson case.
3	Ghosts	The JonBenét Ramsey case.
4	Age of Innocence	The Terri Schiavo case. The Michael Bray case. The Eric Rudolph case.
5	Life Line	Based on the MS-13 international gang.
6	Birthright	The Darlene Johnson case. Inspired by racial controversies of Jadelle contraceptive implants and lawsuits over their side effects. Inspired by Baltimore’s racial controversies of fertility and prenatal care and the related book Killing the Black Body. The Elaine Riddick Jessie case. The James Quilligan case. The Nancy Hernandez case. The controversial history and scientific cultures of eugenics in the United States. Partially ripped from the 1996 novel Push.
7	House of Cards	The Bobbie Jo Stinnett case. The Rachael Ann White case.
8	New York Minute	The Tyrone M. Williams case. Inspired by the Minuteman Project.
9	Criminal Law	Partially ripped from the 1989 crime thriller film Hit List.
10	Acid	The Kelly Anne Bates case.
11	Bible Story	The criminality of sacrilege upon religious texts.
12	Family Friend	The New York State Police Troop C evidence planting scandal.
14	Magnet	The Rod Matthews case. Controversies over drug treatment methods for people suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The Tom Cruise anti-psychiatry comments controversy.
15	Choice of Evils	The John Royster, Jr. case. Based on the controversial debate of nature versus nurture. The "choice of evils" defense. The Susan Smith case. Ripped from the pages of The Bad Seed and its adaptations.
17	America, Inc.	The 2004 Fallujah ambush and the related Helvenston v. Blackwater Security lawsuit.
18	Thinking Makes It So	The Michelle Ramskill-Estey/Breea Ramskill hostage situation.
19	Positive	The Ricky Ray Rector case. Based on a 1997 report by Public Citizen about unethical AIDS research.
20	Kingmaker	The Valerie Plame (a.k.a. "Plamegate") scandal.
21	Hindsight	The Marie Dean Arrington case. The Stuart Tay case.
22	Invaders	The 1990s epidemic of drug heists and drug dealer murders in New York City by hitmen impersonating DEA agents. The Ricky Grey/Ray Dandridge case. The Dustin Honken/Angela Johnson case. The Hazelwood massacre and the related murder of Gerald Williams.

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. The Marlene Olive/Charles Riley (a.k.a. “The Barbecue Murders”) case. The urban legend of "virginity auctions".
3	Home Sweet	The Nicholas Bartha case.
4	Fear America	The murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi and the related epidemic of xenophobia and hate crimes against the Sikh community. The Benjamin Vanderford beheading video hoax. The 2006 Toledo terror plot. The life and death of Mohammad Salman Hamdani. The Islamic Center of Yuba City mosque arson. The nationwide increase of Islamophobia and related hate crimes towards Muslims resulting from the September 11 attacks.
5	Public Service Homicide	Inspired by the TV trend from shows such as Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator segment. The Perverted-Justice vigilante organization. The Michael Mullen case and the related increase of anti-pedophile vigilantism. The American reality TV series The Real World. The Charlene Burkey case and its relation to the American tabloid talk show Forgive or Forget. The Nancy Campbell-Pantz case and its relation to the American tabloid talk show Jerry Springer. The Scott Amedure case. The crisis of violence and disasters associated with reality television. The liability of mass media and entertainment over public endangerment pertaining to and as consequence of production. Ripped from the 1976 satire film Network.
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 Brian Nichols case. The escape of Allen Legere. The 2006 West Nickel Mines School shooting. The sentence commutation of John Taylor, the perpetrator of the 2000 Wendy's massacre and the subsequent legislative efforts to reinstate capital punishment law in New York. The Gary Plauché case. The 2006 United States elections.
10	Corner Office	The Leona Helmsley (a.k.a. "The Queen of Mean") case.
11	Remains of the Day	The Daniel Wayne Smith case. The Biomedical Tissue Services body part theft scandal. The Rudolph Lee case. Criticism of the U.S. healthcare system at the time.
12	Charity Case	The Madonna foreign adoption controversy involving her organization Raising Malawi. The Azaria Chamberlain case. The Christine Falling case.
13	Talking Points	The Ann Coulter controversies and the related University of Arizona attack.
14	Church	The Ted Haggard scandal.
15	Melting Pot	The Adrienne Shelly case. The assassination of Theo van Gogh by Mohammed Bouyeri and the related film Submission: Part 1.
16	Murder Book	The O.J. Simpson case and his controversial book If I Did It. Ripped from the pages of The Dark Page and its film adaptation Scandal Sheet.
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. The Samantha Wann case.
21	Over Here	The Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal.
22	The Family Hour	The Mark Winger case. The Larry Seidlin controversy involving the Anna Nicole Smith burial rights lawsuit. The Park Dietz scandal involving the Andrea Yates case. The closing argument of Rusty Hardin during the Danny Garrett case.

Season 18

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Called Home	The Craig Colby Ewert case and the related documentary The Suicide Tourist by John Zaritsky. The Dr. Jack Kevorkian (a.k.a. "Dr. Death") case. The Linda Hazzard (a.k.a. "The Starvation Doctor") case. Base on real-life right to die advocacy for voluntary euthanasia.
2	Darkness	The 1977 New York City blackout and the resulting crime wave. The Fredric Tokars case. The Enron scandal and the related electricity crisis in California. Ripped from the pages of A Simple Plan and its film adaptation.
3	Misbegotten	Inspired by the controversial "gay gene" studies.
4	Bottomless	The 2005 Pearson v. Chung case. The 2007 Chinese export recalls. The controversies of Walmart.
5	Driven	The Robert Sandifer case. The Jena Six case. The Eva Daley case. Ripped from the play God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza.
6	Political Animal	The Norman Hsu scandal. The Robert Kyo Chu case. The Larry Craig sex scandal. The 2008 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton. The Clinton family hired murders conspiracy theory. The Perez Hilton celebrity outing controversies.
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. The Kent State shootings. The “superior orders” defense.
9	Executioner	The Victor Chang case. The Donald Ray Wallace, Jr. case. The Clayton Lockett case. The botched execution of Brandon Astor Jones. The botched execution of Ángel Nieves Díaz. The botched execution of Raymond Landry. The history of botched executions in the United States. The legal and political debates on capital punishment in the United States. Anonymity laws that shield the identities of people involved in executions.
10	Tango	The Jennifer Moore case. The Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck (a.k.a. “The Lonely Hearts Killers”) case.
11	Betrayal	The Susan Polk case. The Margaret Bean-Bayog 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. The Wendy Bergen case. The Hardy Rodenstock case.
13	Angelgrove	The Elli Perkins case. Inspired by the controversial Jesus Camp documentary film.
14	Burn Card	The Ted Bunion case. The Herman Rosenthal case involving NYPD lieutenant Charles Becker. The Arnold Rothstein case and the related Black Sox scandal. The 2007 NBA betting scandal involving Tim Donaghy. The David D'aloia/James O'Hara case. Partially ripped from the 1986 film Blue Velvet.
15	Bogeyman	The controversies of Scientology.
16	Strike	The Steven Avery case. The 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.
17	Personae Non Gratae	The “Internet Chatroom Murder” case. The Penny Boudreau case.
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	The Peter Sylvester (a.k.a. “The Long Island Sniper”) case. Based on a New York Times report on untrained judges and abuses of justice in upstate New York. Ripped from the 1996 film City Hall.
6	Sweetie	The JT LeRoy literary hoax. Ripped from the pages of the novel Written in Blood and the TV adaptation of the same name in Midsomer Murders.
7	Zero	The Clyde and Lulu Dayton case. The Randall Dale Adams case. 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/Christina-Maria Petrowski-Schwartz case. The Cynthia Ray Campbell/David West case. The Marie and Willie Pompee case. The Haitian term "restavek". The crisis of modern-day slavery in the U.S.
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' obsession with the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. The murders of Thomas Hunter and Shirlee Sherman, which at the time were still unsolved.
12	Illegitimate	Based on the story of Jack Rodney Worthington II. The suicide of Timothy J. Torres. The Karen Yontz case. The “Nigerian prince” scam and the related consequential suicides of scam victims. Partially ripped from the 1996 German film Run Lola Run.
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. The Charles Rogers (a.k.a. "The Icebox Murderer") case.
15	Bailout	The Vicki Morgan case. The Michael Sandy case. The global financial crisis of 2007–08. The controversy over corporate bailouts.
16	Take-Out	The assassination of Henry Liu. The Julius and Ethel Rosenberg case.
17	Anchors Away	The Anne Pressly case. Inspired by the lives and careers of famous broadcast journalists, including Walter Cronkite and Jessica Savitch. The Alycia Lane bikini pictures scandal involving Rick Eisen and Suzy Schuster. The Larry Mendte email hacking scandal involving Alycia Lane and Dan Gross. The Bernard Madoff investment scandal.
18	Promote This!	The Luis Ramirez murder case. The Vincent Chin case. The Dotbusters gang. The “Brooklyn Thrill Killers” gang. The Anchorage, Alaska paintball attacks. The outrage against illiegal immigration into New York City.
19	All New	The Clutter family massacre committed by Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. The Charleston Sofa Super Store fire. Ripped from the pages of A Simple Plan and its film adaptation.
20	Exchange	The murders of Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez.
21	Skate or Die	Based on the life of John Wesley Jermyn. The Robert Joseph Silveria, Jr. (a.k.a. "The Boxcar Killer") 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	The "West Campus Murders" case. Based on the controversial "Torture Memos".
2	Just a Girl in the World	The Kari Ferrell (a.k.a. "The Hipster Grifter") case. The murder of Michelle Lee by Gary McGurk. The Jessica Guidici case.
3	Great Satan	The 2009 Bronx terrorism plot involving the Riverdale Jewish Center. The 2005 Los Angeles terrorism plot. Inspired by the informant work of Emad Salem. The Iyman Faris case. The Derrick Shareef case. The difficulties of counterterrorism operations and related informant activities. The entrapment defense used by defendants of terrorism prosecution. The then-increase of “virtual kidnappings” in Mexico.
4	Reality Bites	The Jon & Kate Plus 8 reality television series. The Byrd and Melanie Billings case. The Sheila Bellush case. The story of Nadya Suleman (a.k.a. "Octomom").
5	Dignity	The assassination of George Tiller.
6	Human Flesh Search Engine	The Dov Charney sexual harassment allegations. The death of David Carradine. The death of Nigel Tetley. The Diana Napolis case. The term "human flesh search engine".
7	Boy Gone Astray	The Zetas child hitmen of the Gulf Cartel. The ongoing armed conflict between Mexico and drug cartels, along with its casualties across the border. The narcocorrido sub-genre of Mexican music.
8	Doped	The Diane Schuler case. The AstraZeneca illegal marketing case involving the cancer drug Zoladex. The Robert Fiddes case and the related whistleblowing efforts of Susan Lester. The legal statutes of off-label drug promotion.
9	For the Defense	The Paul Bergrin case.
10	Shotgun	The Frank L. Felicetti case and the related Sullivan Act invocation.
11	Fed	The William Sparkman case. The 2009 ACORN undercover videos controversy. The James G. Cummings case. The constitutional militia movement. Partially inspired by details from the 2009 Politico article Town Halls Gone Wild.
12	Blackmail	The Jennifer Servo case. The Joe Halderman case. The Daisy DeVoe case involving actress Clara Bow. Partially inspired by the talk show The View. The controversial New York City celebrity tabloid blog Gawker. Partially ripped from the Sherlock Holmes short story The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton, which in turn is inspired by the Charles Augustus Howell case.
13	Steel-Eyed Death	The Richard Alden Samuel McCroskey III case. The Joseph Edward Gallegos case. The Jasmine Richardson/Jeremy Steinke case. The Kacie Aleece Peterson case. The horrorcore sub-genre of hip-hop music. The Juggalo fanbase culture and the controversial Juggalo gangs offshoot. Bestgore.com and similar real gore services. The Anthony Howard Brennan case. 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 bullying and burning case. The Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal. Partially ripped from the musical production West Side Story.
15	Brilliant Disguise	The Philip Markoff (a.k.a. the "Craigslist Killer") case. The Jennifer Cave case. The Gary Lee Sampson case. The Maghfoor Mansoor case. The Anand Jon jury tampering controversy. The Gillian Guess case. The Annie Le case. The Yang Xin case.
16	Innocence	The killing of Charlie Howard. The Jesse Anderson case. Based on the case against the Medill Innocence Project.
17	Four Cops Shot	The Maurice Clemmons case. The 2008 Brooklyn South Narcotics Division “drugs-for-information” informant scandal.
18	Brazil	The Sean Goldman child abduction case. The balloon boy hoax case. Based on real cases of parental alienation syndrome. The Climategate email scandal.
19	Crashers	The Paula Sladewski case. Inspired by conspiracy theories regarding the death of Marilyn Monroe being tied to the Kennedy family. The 2009 U.S. state dinner security breaches by Michaele and Tareq Salahi. The Haisong Jiang incident. The Mary Kay Letourneau case.
20	The Taxman Cometh	The 2010 U.S. estate tax loophole. The controversy and legal statutes of adult adoption between same-sex couples. Based on Christopher Reeve's advocacy for stem cell research.
21	Immortal	Based on the life and legacy of Henrietta Lacks.
22	Love Eternal	The Barbara Stager case. The Bernice and Ben Novak case. Partially inspired by the British reality show What Not to Wear and its American adaptation.
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.

Season 21

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	The Right Thing	The Bill Cosby sexual assault cases and his subsequent prison release. The R. Kelly sexual abuse cases and his subsequent primetime interview with Gayle King. The Chrystul Kizer case.
2	Impossible Dream	The Theranos fraud scandal involving Elizabeth Holmes.
3	Filtered Life	The Gabby Petito case. The Natalee Holloway case. The Aimee Willard case. The Kristin Smart case. The difficulties of obtaining a murder conviction without a body.
4	Fault Lines	The Family Court of Australia murders. The Britney Spears conservatorship dispute. The Amanda Bynes conservatorship dispute. Inspired by the life and career of Serena Williams. Inspired by the mental health activism of professional athletes, such as Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles.
5	Free Speech	The QAnon conspiracy theory and political movement, and its related acts of violence. The Jared Lee Loughner case. The assassination of Jo Cox. The Hal Turner controversies and subsequent trials. The Pizzagate conspiracy theory and its related acts of violence. The main antagonist is based on far-right media personalities Alex Jones, Steve Bannon, and Tucker Carlson. The worldwide increase of political assassinations linked to far-right extremism. The ethical debate about redefining the limitations of freedom of speech to prevent the incitement of violence.
6	Wicked Game	The Ed Buck case. The Steven Zelich (a.k.a. "The Wisconsin Suitcase Murderer") case. The Jeffrey Dahmer (a.k.a. "The Milwaukee Cannibal") case. The Ted Bundy case. Based on the "down-low" phenomenon in the black community.
7	Legacy	The Patrick Daly case. The Philip Lawrence case. The Ethan Crumbley case and the related trials against James and Jennifer Crumbley. The trials of Christopher Belter and his accomplices. The University of Oklahoma racist chant by Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity members. The political and legal warfare over involving critical race theory in American curriculum. The parental responsibility dilemma under criminal attribution legal doctrines.
8	Severance	The Tesla, Inc. workplace controversies. The "Facebook Files" leak involving Frances Haugen. The disputed "Havana syndrome" phenomenon. The Tracie McBride case and the related controversial Gulf War syndrome clemency defense.
9	The Great Pretender	The Anna Sorokin fraud case. The Murdaugh family murders and scandals. Inspired by the opioid epidemic in the U.S. and the role of the Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma.
10	Black and Blue	The murder of David Dorn. The shooting of Shane Bartek committed by Tamara McLoyd. The shooting of Daniel Faulkner committed by Mumia Abu-Jamal. The Cyntoia Brown case. The Kyle Rittenhouse case. The Adrian Schoolcraft scandal.

Season 22

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Gimme Shelter	The Danguolė Rasalaitė case. The Tioni Theus case. The crisis of human and sex trafficking during the 2022–2023 Ukrainian refugee crisis due to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. The Brighton hotel bombing involving Patrick Magee. The increase of political assassinations and suspicious deaths attributed to Russian president Vladmir Putin. Partially ripped from the 1975 Italian film The Suspicious Death of a Minor. The opening scene is ripped from the 1989 play A Bronx Tale and its film adaptation.
2	Battle Lines	The Mollie Tibbetts case. A supporting character is inspired by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Ted Cruz's daughter Caroline's suicide attempt after coming out as bisexual. The Jane Collective abortion network.
3	Camouflage	The Frank Robert James case. The Atlanta Asian spa shootings. The Colin Ferguson case. The trial of Joseph Paul Franklin (a.k.a. "The Racist Killer"). The trial of Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz. The increase of anti-Asian racism and hate crimes in reactive outrage over the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent increase and escalation of hate crimes in New York City and the subsequent concerns of public safety. Based on the ongoing debate on whether extreme racism meets the criteria for a delusional mental disorder.
5	12 Seconds	The Eric Adams racial slur video. The Charles Augustus Howell case.
6	Vicious Cycle	The Richard Allen Davis case. The Bui Van Phu (a.k.a. "The Gloved Beast") case. The recent escalation of smash and grab heists at retail stores in major American cities. The New York bail reform controversies.
8	Chain Of Command	The Eddie Ray Routh case involving Chris Kyle. The increase of medical problems in American military veterans stemming from the use of burn pits.
9	The System	The Kalief Browder case. The Casey White/Vicki White case.
10	Land Of Opportunity	The Gerald Brevard case. The trend of discrimination and hate crimes against homeless people in the United States. The 2023 Sundbyburg fatal construction accident involving Andersson Company Byggnads. The deaths of George Scarpati and James Benton involving Brookfield Properties. The recent influx of international migration to New York City.
12	Almost Famous	The 2021 Todd Smith case in Arlington, Washington. The TikTok social media app and the related "challenges and dares" and marketing influence scandals.
14	Heroes	The Cameo nightclub shooting. The trial of Scot Peterson. The DaBaby homophobic remarks controversy.
15	Fear And Loathing	The murder of Ahmaud Arbery. The Bernhard Goetz (a.k.a. "The Subway Vigilante") case. The Caron Nazario pepper-spraying case. The term "blue wall of silence". The crisis of false or exaggerated crime reports targeting racial minorities. The ethical debate about redefining the limitations of freedom of speech to prevent the incitement of violence.
16	Deadline	The murder of Jeff German. The Keith Melvin Moses case. The Brian Benjamin corruption case. The Sheena Wright scandals. The Twin Parks apartment fire. The Alpine Motel Apartments fire. The Kanye West antisemitism controversies. Joe Rogan’s controversial podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.
17	Bias	The murder of Angela Bledsoe by James Ray III. The Alex Kozinski sexual misconduct and hostile work environment allegations.
18	Collateral Damage	The Lisa McPherson case. The Ant Hill Kids cult involving Roch Thériault. The NXIVM sex cult and the related disappearance of Kristin Snyder. The Sarah Lawrence College sex cult involving Larry Ray. The Jeffrey Epstein/Ghislaine Maxwell case. The T.J. Holmes/Amy Robach extramarital affair scandal.
19	Private Lives	The Luna Younger case. The Ashley Kalus scandals and the related outrage over her husband Jeffrey Weinzwig's involvement in gender-affirming care. The assault of Paul Pelosi. The assassination of George Tiller.
21	Appraisal	The Sam Bankman-Fried case.
22	Open Wounds	The Glenn Thompson controversy involving the Respect for Marriage Act. The Brett Kavanaugh assassination plot. The story of Manuel Oliver, the father of Stoneman Douglas High School shooting victim Joaquin Oliver. The story of Robb Elementary School shooting survivor Arnulfo Reyes. The story of Ned Peppers Bar shooting survivor Jeremy Ganger.

Season 23

Ep#	Episode Title	Real Life Incident(s)/Case(s)
1	Freedom Of Expression	The Claudine Gay controversies. The Rachel Corrie case. The 2023 Israel–Hamas war protests in U.S. universities. The increase of international hate crimes resulting from the Israel-Hamas War.
2	Human Innovations	The murder of Bob Lee.
3	Turn The Page	The Jeremy Skibicki case.
6	On The Ledge	The Midtown Atlanta hospital shooting. The Bronx-Lebanon Hospital shooting. The disputed "race-based traumatic stress" response.
7	Balance Of Power	The GameStop short squeeze.
8	Facade	The Jordan Neely case. The Chris Rock/Will Smith slapping incident. The shooting of Oscar Grant. The trial of Derek Chauvin. The far-right Rise Above Movement. The recent increase of attacks on standup comedians and the resulting safety concerns. The epidemic of subway crimes in New York City. The "adrenal fatigue" pseudoscience controversy. Partially ripped from the 1964 neo-noir film The Naked Kiss.
9	Family Ties	The Seth Rich case.

See Also

• List of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Ripped from the Headline episodes (seasons 1–15)
• List of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Ripped from the Headline episodes (season 16–present)
• 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: Organized Crime Ripped from the Headline episodes
• List of Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent Ripped from the Headline episodes