The following is a list of episodes of Law & Order that have been Ripped from the headlines.
Season 1
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. |
| 5 | God Bless the Child | The Alex Dale Morris case. |
| 7 | In Memory Of... | The George Franklin case. |
| 8 | Out of Control | Based on an actual rape case at St. John's University in Collegeville, Jamaica, New York (due to certain restrictions no one in that case could be named). |
| 9 | Renunciation | The Pamela Smart case. |
| 10 | Heaven | Based on the The Happy Land Fire caused by Julio González. |
| 11 | His Hour Upon the Stage | The Roy Radin case. |
| 12 | Star Struck | The stalking cases of Rebecca Schaeffer, Theresa Saldana & Andrea Evans. |
| 13 | Severance | The CBS Murders case. |
| 16 | Vengeance | The Albert DeSalvo (aka "The Boston Strangler") case. |
| 18 | The Fertile Fields | The Brooklyn Crown Heights Riot of 1991. |
| 20 | Intolerance | The Wanda Holloway case. |
Season 3
- 3x02: Conspiracy - The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X assassinations.
- 3x03: Forgiveness - The Bonnie Garland case.
- 3x11: Extended Family - The Faye Yager case.
- 3x13: Night and Fog - The John Demjanjuk ("Ivan the Terrible") case.
- 3x17: Conduct Unbecoming - Based on the Tailhook Association scandal.
Season 4
- 4x01: Sweeps - Based on a 1988 episode of Geraldo.
- 4x02: Volunteers - The Larry Hogue (aka "The Wild Man of 96th Street") case.
- 4x03: Discord - The Mike Tyson rape case.
- 4x05: Black Tie - The Sunny von Bülow case.
- 4x07: Apocrypha - The Charles Manson case.
- 4x08: American Dream - Ron Levin case.
- 4x14: Censure - The Sol Wachtler case.
- 4x16: Big Bang - The Ted Kaczynski (aka "The Unabomber") case.
- 4x17: Mayhem - The David Berkowitz (aka The Son of Sam) case and The Lorena Bobbitt case.
- 4x18: Wager - The James R. Jordan, Sr. murder.
- 4x19: Sanctuary - The Brooklyn Crown Heights and Rodney King 1992 Los Angeles riots.
- 4x20: Nurture - The Katie Beers case.
- 4x21: Doubles - The Tonya Harding case.
Season 5
- 5x01: Second Opinion - Based on the controversy surrounding the use of laetrile to treat cancer.
- 5x03: Blue Bamboo - Inspired by the Japanese use of comfort women during World War II.
- 5x04: Family Values - The Amy Fisher (aka the "Long Island Lolita") case.
- 5x05: White Rabbit - The Sara Jane Olson/Kathleen Soliah and Katherine Ann Power cases as well as the Weathermen underground anti-war movement.
- 5x06: Competence - The 1984 murder of Eleanor Bumpur.
- 5x07: Precious - Based on real cases of Münchausen syndrome by proxy.
- 5x08: Virtue - The Anita Hill scandal.
- 5x09: Scoundrels - The Charles Keating and Ivan Boesky scandals.
- 5x10: House Counsel - The Bruce Cutler case.
- 5x12: Progeny - The Paul Jennings Hill case.
- 5x13: Rage - The Colin Ferguson case.
- 5x14: Performance - The Spur Posse case.
- 5x15: Seed - The Dr. Cecil Jacobson case.
- 5x17: Act of God - Inspired by insurance cases involving claims of an act of God.
- 5x18: Privileged - The Paul Cox case.
- 5x19: Cruel and Unusual - Based off the case of the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Canton, Massachusetts.
- 5x20: Bad Faith - The James Porter case.
- 5x21: Purple Heart - The Anthony Riggs case.
- 5x22: Switch - The Karisa Santiago case.
- 5x23: Pride - The Assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk committed by Dan White.
Season 6
- 6x01: Bitter Fruit - The Ellie Nesler case.
- 6x05: Hot Pursuit - The Patty Hearst case.
- 6x06: Paranoia - The Gina Grant case.
- 6x07: Humiliation - Based on the Divine Brown incident.
- 6x08: Angel - The Susan Smith case.
- 6x10: Remand - The Kitty Genovese case.
- 6x11: Corpus Delicti - The Helen Brach case.
- 6x13: Charm City - The Colin Ferguson case, The Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 and the Daegu subway fire in China.
- 6x16: Savior - The John List (aka "The Bogeyman of Westfield") case.
- 6x18: Atonement - The Linda Sobek case.
- 6x22: Homesick - The Olivia Riner case.
Season 7
- 7x01: Causa Mortis - The murder of New Jersey schoolteacher Kathleen Weinstein in Toms River.
- 7x05: Corruption - Based on the 1967 through 1972 thefts of heroin from the Department Property Clerk's office of the New York City Police Department.
- 7x07: Deadbeat - The Jeffery Nichols case.
- 7x09: Entrapment - The Qubilah Shabazz case.
- 7x11: Menace - The Deletha Word case.
- 7x13: Matrimony - The Anna Nicole Smith inheritance case.
- 7x17: Showtime - The O. J. Simpson murder case.
- 7x18: Mad Dog - The Megan Kanka case.
- 7x20: We Like Mike - The murder of Ennis Cosby in 1997, in Los Angeles.
- 7x23: Terminal - The Angel Diaz case.
Season 8
- 8x01: Thrill - The Thomas Koskovich and Jayson Vreeland case.
- 8x02: Denial - The Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson case.
- 8x03: Navy Blues - The 1997 sex scandal involving the U.S. Air Force and Lt. Kelly Flinn.
- 8x04: Harvest - Inspired by a piece on 60 Minutes about people being shot in Los Angeles drive-bys.
- 8x05: Baby, It's You - The JonBenét Ramsey case.
- 8x07: Blood - Based on the life of Anatole Broyard.
- 8x13: Castoff - The Andrew Cunanan case.
- 8x15: Faccia a Faccia - The Vincent Gigante
- 8x16: Divorce - Based on the divorce of Joseph P. Kennedy II and Sheila Brewster Rauch.
- 8x17: Carrier - The Nushawn Williams case.
- 8x19: Disappeared - The Ted Kaczynski (aka "The Unabomber") case.
- 8x20: Burden - The Dr. Jack Kevorkian (aka Dr. Death) case.
- 8x21: Bad Girl - The Karla Faye Tucker case.
- 8x22: Damaged - The Glen Ridge High School rape case.
- 8x23: Tabloid - The deaths of Diana Spencer and Dodi Fayed.
Season 9
- 9x03: Bait - The Chad MacDonald case.
- 9x04: Flight - The Brian Stewart case.
- 9x05: Agony - The Ted Bundy case.
- 9x06: Scrambled - Based on the J.B. v. M.B., Kass v. Kass court cases.
- 9x07: Venom - The Sante and Kenneth Kimes case.
- 9x09: True North - Stanley Faulder Case.
- 9x14: Sideshow - The Presidential sex scandal involving Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton.
- 9x15: Disciple - The Charity Miranda case.
- 9x16: Harm - The Lisa Smart medical malpractice case.
- 9x19: Tabula Rasa - The Rachael and Lisa Martin cases.
- 9x20: Empire - Based off the arguments between real-estate developer Donald Trump, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and the New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner over a new sports stadium.
- 9x21: Ambitious - The John Gotti Jr. case.
- 9x22: Admissions - The Jeremy Strohmeyer case.
- 9x24: Refuge (2) - Based on the Russian mafia drug money laundering scams durring the 1980s and 1990's between JFK Airport and Moscow.
Season 10
- 10x01: Gunshow - The École Polytechnique massacre commited by Marc Lépine.
- 10x02: Killerz - the Mary Bell case and The Jamie Bulger case.
- 10x05: Justice - The Sam Sheppard case.
- 10x13: Panic - The Eugene Bennett case.
- 10x15: Fools For Love - The Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo (aka The Ken and Barbie killers) case.
- 10x16: Trade This - The Mark O. Barton case.
- 10x22: High & Low - The James McDermott trading scandal.
- 10x23: Stiff - The Sunny von Bülow case.
- 10x24: Vaya Con Dios - The Charles Horman case.
Season 11
- 11x02: Turnstile Justice - The Kendra Webdale case.
- 11x05: Return - The Samuel Sheinbein case.
- 11x06: Burn, Baby, Burn - The H. Rap Brown case.
- 11x07: Amends - The Martha Moxley and Michael Skakel case.
- 11x08: Thin Ice - The Thomas Junta case.
- 11x09: Hubris - The Gillian Guess case.
- 11x10: Whose Monkey is it Anyway? - The 1988 Reston African filovirus outbreak.
- 11x11: Sunday in the Park with Jorge - The 2000 Puerto Rican Day Parade attacks.
- 11x12: Teenage Wasteland - The Jin-Sheng Liu case.
- 11x14: A Losing Season - The Rae Carruth case.
- 11x15: Swept Away - A Very Special Episode - Based on reality TV shows such as Big Brother and The Real World.
- 11x17: Ego - The Thomas Capano case.
- 11x19: Whiplash - The 1996 "sudden stop" car accidents conspiracy in Chicago.
- 11x20: All My Children - The Ennis Cosby case.
- 11x21: Brother's Keeper - The James "Whitey" Bulger case.
- 11x22: School Daze - Based on Columbine and other high-profile school shootings that occurred in the late 1990s.
- 11x24: Deep Vote - The 2000 United States presidential election.
Season 12
- 12x01: Who Let the Dogs Out? - The Diane Whipple case.
- 12x02: Armed Forces - The Senator Bob Kerrey controversy.
- 12x04: Soldier of Fortune - Based on the real-life South African DeBeers corporation, the world's largest diamond producer.
- 12x06: Formerly Famous - The Bonnie Lee Bakley case.
- 12x07: Myth of Fingerprints - The Joyce Gilchrist scandal.
- 12x08: The Fire This Time - Based as on the real life radical eco terrorist group ELF- Earth Liberation Front.
- 12x09: 3 Dawg Night - The Sean Combs (aka Puff Daddy) and the shooting at Club New York in 1999.
- 12x14: Missing - The Chandra Levy case.
- 12x16: Born Again - The Candace Newmaker case.
- 12x18: Equal Rights - The Enron scandal.
- 12x21: Foul Play - The Danny Almonte scandal.
- 12x22: Attorney Client - The Stefanie Rabinowitz case.
- 12x24: Patriot - Based off the prejudice to Muslims and Arabs after the 9/11 attacks.
Season 13
- 13x01: American Jihad - The John Walker Lindh case.
- 13x02: Shangri-La - The Treva Throneberry case.
- 13x03: True Crime - The suicide of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.
- 13x04: Tragedy on Rye - The Carnegie Deli murders.
- 13x06: Hitman - The Ted Ammon Murder.
- 13x07: Open Season - The Lynne Stewart case.
- 13x08: Asterisk - The Jayson Williams case.
- 13x13: Absentia - Ira Einhorn (aka "The Unicorn Killer") case.
- 13x15: Bitch - The Martha Stewart case.
- 13x17: Genius - The Gary Gilmore case and The Jack Abbott case.
- 13x18: Maritime - The Disappearance of Bison Dele.
- 13x20: Kid Pro Quo - The Sanford I. Weill Controversy.
- 13x21: House Calls - The 2001 shoplifting Trial of Winona Ryder.
- 13x22: Sheltered - The 2002 Beltway sniper attacks by John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo.
- 13x23: Couples - One of the cases is based on The Scott Peterson case, whilst another case is based on the Clara Harris "murder by Mercedes" case.
- 13x24: Smoke - Based on the the Michael Jackson child molestation scandal.
Season 14
- 14x02: Bounty - Based mainly on the Jayson Blair scandal as well as being partially based on the capture of Andrew Luster.
- 14x03: Patient Zero - Based on the Dr. Richard J. Schmidt case.
- 14x04: Shrunk - Based on the Lana Clarkson case.
- 14x05: Blaze - Based on the Station Nightclub Fire in 2003.
- 14x07: Floater - Based on the Justice Victor I. Barron case.
- 14x08: Embedded - Based on the 2003 Geraldo Rivera controversy during the war in Iraq.
- 14x11: Darwinian - Based on the Chante Mallard/Gregory Glenn Biggs murder case.
- 14x12: Payback - Based on the trial of Mafia don Vincent Gigante.
- 14x17: Hands Free - Based on the Robert Durst case.
- 14x19: Nowhere Man - the murder of Baltimore Federal Prosecutor Jonathan P. Luna.
- 14x20: Everybody Loves Raimondo's - Based on the Louis Barone/Albert Circelli Jr. murder case.
- 14x21: Vendetta - Based on the Steve Bartman incident during the 2003 National League Championship Series.
- 14x22: Gaijin - Based on the Kazuyoshi Miura murder case.
Season 15
- 15x01: Paradigm - Based on the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal.
- 15x02: The Dead Wives Club - Based on the 2003 Staten Island Ferry Crash.
- 15x04: Coming Down Hard - Based on the slew of suicides that took place at New York University during the 2003-2004 school year.
- 15x05: Gunplay - Based on the murders of NYPD Officers James J. Nemorin and Rodney Andrews by Ronell Wilson.
- 15x06: Cut - Based on the death of novelist Olivia Goldsmith, author of The First Wives Club.
- 15x07: Gov Love - Based on the scandals of former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey and former Connecticut governor John G. Rowland.
- 15x08: Cry Wolf: Based on murder attempts on Curtis Silwa by John Gotti Jr.
- 15x11: Fixed - Based on the release of Joel Steinberg from Prison.
- 15x12: Mammon - The Ted Ammon Case.
- 15x13: Ain't No Love - The Jason William Mizell (AKA Jam Master Jay) murder.
- 15x14: Fluency - Based on the shortage of flu vaccine in the United States during the winter 2004-2005 flu season.
- 15x15: Obsession - Based on the Bill O'Reilly sexual harassment scandal and the Celeste Beard case.
- 15x16: The Sixth Man - Based on the brawl that broke out at an NBA game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons in 2004.
- 15x17: License to Kill - The Chai Vang murder case.
- 15x18: Sects - Based on the Rick Rodriguez and the Children of God murder-suicide.
- 15x21: Publish and Perish -Based on the Bernard Kerik scandal.
- 15x24: Locomotion - Based on the 2005 Glendale train crash.
Season 16
- 16x03: Ghosts - The JonBenet Ramsey case.
- 16x04: Age of Innocence - The Terri Schiavo case.
- 16x07: House of Cards - The Bobbie Jo Stinnett case.
- 16x09: Criminal Law - The Tyrone Williams case.
- 16x20: Kingmaker - Based on the Plamegate Scandal.
Season 17
- 17x01: Fame - Based on the Britney Spears/Kevin Fedrline relationship scandals, the Kate Moss drug scandal and the Lillo Brancato, Jr. case.
- 17x02: Avatar - The Rachelle Waterman case in Alaska.
- 17x03: Home Sweet - Based on the July 2006 explosion of an Upper East Side brownstone owned by a Dr. Nicholas Bartha.
- 17x05: Public Service Homicide - Based on the current cases coming about from shows such as Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator" segment, and the online organization Perverted-Justice.
- 17x06: Profiteer - Based on the Interceptor body armor package scandal of 2005.
- 17x07: In Vino Veritas - Based on the Mel Gibson scandal.
- 17x08: Release - Based on the numerous controversies surrounding the Girls Gone Wild series and the executive producer, Joe Francis.
- 17x09: Deadlock - Based on the the 2006 Amish school shooting tragedy committed by Charles Carl Roberts, other parts of the episode appear to be based on the 2000 Wendy's massacre in New York, committed by John Taylor.
- 17x11: Remains of the Day - Based on the death of Daniel Wayne Smith, also the Biomedical Tissue Services body part theft scandal.
- 17x12: Charity Case - Based on the 2006 foreign adoption scandal involving pop singer Madonna.
- 17x13: Talking Points - Based on the Ann Coulter controversies.
- 17x14: Church - Based on the Ted Haggard scandal.
- 17x15: Melting Pot - Based on the murder of Adrienne Shelly by Diego Pillco.
- 17x16: Murder Book - Based on The O.J. Simpson case and his controversial book "If I Did It".