History RippedFromTheHeadlines / LawAndOrder

* "Revolution" had a very AffablyEvil Madoff {{expy}}, who confessed to his incredible scheme [[spoiler: to get protection from the Colombian(?) gangsters he swindled]].

* The murderous group from "Slither" are based on the the Manson family. The episode even lampshades this. The leader of the group, Bernard Fremont [[spoiler:(a.k.a. Thierry Gervais)]], is based on Charles Sobhraj, as is Goren's ArchEnemy (and Fremont's lover/protégé) Nicole Wallace.

* Season 17, episode 7: "In Vino Veritas", which, like the Michael Jackson example above, was about taking a celebrity scandal and cranking it up to eleven, with Mel Gibson's DUI arrest and following anti-Semitic rant (reenacted by ''[[WTHCastingAgency Chevy Chase]]'', of all people) giving way to a murder confession.

* Season 6, Episode 4: "Scavenger" is based on the BTK (Bind-Torture-Kill) killings and the killer reinitiating contact with the public. The episode features a killer who goes by the moniker RDK (Rape-Dismember-Kill) who targeted young women during the 70s. Decades later, someone claiming to be the killer sends a letter using a pseudonym (Rupert Daniel Kilmore) based off the moniker, just as the BTK sent a letter under the name Bill Thomas Killman. In the episode, the letter sender turns out to be a copycat killer, but in real life, it the real BTK killer, Dennis Rader, who was eventually caught based off a floppy disk he sent.

* Season 4, Episode 25: "Soulless" takes loose inspiration from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger# the murder of James Bulgar]] for the killer's backstory. In the episode, the killer-of-the-week is revealed to have been a former child killer who had his records expunged and was given a new identity. At age 10, he lured a toddler-aged boy from his mother's care, torturing and then murdering him in the nearby woods. In a case of HarsherInHindsight, a couple years after the episode released, one of Bulgar's killers was rearrested for possessing child pornography, bringing forth renewed public criticism towards the decision to release the killers back into the public and grant them new identities.

* Season 4, Episode 25: "Soulless" takes loose inspiration from {[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger# the murder of James Bulgar]] for the killer's backstory. In the episode, the killer-of-the-week is revealed to have been a former child killer who had his records expunged and was given a new identity. At age 10, he lured a toddler-aged boy from his mother's care, torturing and then murdering him in the nearby woods. In a case of HarsherInHindsight, a couple years after the episode released, one of Bulgar's killers was rearrested for possessing child pornography, bringing forth renewed public criticism towards the decision to release the killers back into the public and grant them new identities.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' pulled a trifecta when they combined Rhianna's physical abuse, "sexting" (teens sending nude pics over their cellphones), and [[spoiler: a scandal about two judges who'd send kids with very minor offenses to private juvenile facilities for cash (basically [[strike:''Literature/{{Holes}}'' if Stanley's judge was getting paid for each kid he sent to Camp Green Lake)]] Sunlight Home from Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheTalisman'']].
* [[spoiler:Or, [[http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/23/pennsylvania.corrupt.judges/ a more literally ripped-from-the-headlines example from Pennsylvania]].]]
* A Season 4 episode, [[Recap/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnitS4E12Risk "Risk"]] is based on the case of an [[https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/pubs/states/newsrel/chicago012904.html international drug ring]] that smuggled drugs in cans of baby formula, and also had couriers posing as parents who would use their own babies (or in some cases, "renting" babies) so they could avoid suspicions at Customs.
* Another trifecta: "Babes", an episode in the 10th season of SVU, had a group of high school students making a pregnancy pact in order to emulate a movie they had seen, a mother apparently bullying her daughter's classmate into committing suicide via an online networking site AND a group of kids filming homeless people being beaten and then uploading the footage onto the internet, all of which closely resemble real-life news stories.
* ANOTHER trifecta: "Blood Brothers", from season 13 of SVU, managed to combine the Arnold Schwarzenegger love child scandal (though in the episode, it was just a politician, not an actor as well, but it kept most of the details, including his wife and his housekeeper both giving birth to his sons in the same month), unfair placement on the sex offender registry (in this case, two teenagers having sex and the slightly older boy is put on the registry), and the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton, of all things. If you include teen pregnancy, given the popularity of shows like [[Series/SixteenAndPregnant 16 & Pregnant]], this episode might count as a quadruple use of this trope.
* Similarly, another episode of L&O: SVU dealt with a famous person advocating against psychiatric drugs, and the disastrous effects when someone with a mental disorder listens to him (this character wasn't a Happyologist, it was just his personal opinion - and due to [[FreudianExcuse having received electroshock therapy when he was a teenager]]).
* SVU episode ''"Torch"'' covers the case of Texas man [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameron_Todd_Willingham Cameron Todd Willingham]], who was executed in 2004, though evidence supports his potential innocence, for burning his house down with his daughters in it. Both cases featured issues raised with investigating arson, a smug, WRONG arson investigator, a former nuclear weapons expert turned arson investigator, the concept of flashover, and an [[TheScrappy unlikeable prosecutor]]. The SVU version notably features the innocent man being acquitted before he died, the prosecutor correctly pursuing justice, no [[http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/01/texas.execution.probe/index.html interference from Texas governor Rick Perry]], and no New Yorker coverage. This case is currently major in the debate about the death penalty, as it was the first known incident of an innocent Texan being executed.
* The episode "Identity" in ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' used the story of the twin boy forced to live as a girl after a botched circumcision. In the episode, the non-altered twin was charged with a crime based on the evidence that indicated there had been a young boy at the scene. Altered-twin eventually fessed up after being hit with the news that 'she' used to be male.
* The season 4 finale "Soulless" took loose inspiration from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger# the murder of James Bulgar]] for the killer's backstory. In the episode, the killer-of-the-week is revealed to have been a former child killer who had his records expunged and was given a new identity. At age 10, he lured a toddler-aged boy from his mother's care, torturing and then murdering him in the nearby woods. In a case of HarsherInHindsight, a couple years after the episode released, one of Bulgar's killers was rearrested for possessing child pornography, bringing forth renewed public criticism towards the decision to release the killers back into the public and grant them new identities.
* The season 5 episode "Mean" is based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Shanda_Sharer# murder of Shanda Sharer]]. The episode depicts a group of teenage girls who, led by their charismatic yet sociopathic leader, brutally torture and murder their friend after the leader suspects the victim of being involved with her crush. The episode even includes the detail where the group drives around with the victim, still alive, in their car trunk, getting drinks, meeting with friends, and grabbing food before ultimately dumping the body.
* The first half of season 8 episode "Haystack" is based on the Melinda Duckett case, except that in the episode the little boy was found by firefighters. As of this writing, Trenton Duckett has yet to be found.
* The Season 13 episode "Lost Traveler", about a Romani boy who disappeared on his way home from school, combines the murders of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Leiby_Kletzky Leiby Klezky]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger James Bulger]] with the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_International_phone_hacking_scandal News International phone hacking scandal]]. There are also some similarities to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etan_Patz Etan Patz]] case, although this one was actually reopened one year [[LifeImitatesArt after]] the episode aired.
* The season 14 episode, "25 Acts", is inspired by the ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' media craze. In it, the author gets brutally raped by a TV host who interviewed her.
* The Season 5 episode "Lowdown" discusses the phenomenon of "being on the down low" in the African-American community, in which supposedly masculine black men secretly have sex with other men but claim that they're still straight. In the episode, a Bronx D.A. (who is Benson's ex-boyfriend) is found dead in his car, and clues lead to his male coworker, who he was in a secret sexual relationship with. Fin actually details what the term "down-low" means to the rest of the squad. It also addresses the theory that black men on the down low is the reason for the high rate of HIV in black women, by having said coworker also give his wife HIV.
* The Season 8 episode "Burned" is based on the attempted murder of [[https://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/a-horrific-crime/all Yvette Cade]], although it's really only the end of the episode that draws from the real-life incident; in the episode, the true story is appended onto a fully fictional plot arc involving a FalseRapeAccusation, which never happened in the Cade case.
* The season 9 episode "Authority" was loosely based on the same series of crimes that inspired the movie ''Film/{{Compliance}}'', mentioned below under Film.
* Fran Stanton from the season 11 episode "Conned" is based in part on former elementary school teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, who molested (and later married after being released from prison) her 12 year old student, bearing his daughter.
* The season 14 episode "Vanity's Bonfire" is based on the John Edwards sex scandal, in which 2008 presidential candidate John Edwards cheated on his cancer-stricken wife and got his mistress pregnant, then convinced one of his aides to claim the baby as his.
* The season 14 episode "Lessons Learned" is based on the Penn State University sex scandal, in which former coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted of molesting several boys and the school was criticized for covering it up.
* The season 14 episode "Funny Valentine" is based on the Music/ChrisBrown and Music/{{Rihanna}} domestic violence incident, and even had lookalike actors playing the singers. A scene at the end threw in a News report with a line about she 'fell off of a boat' and died, no doubt to reference the renewed coverage of Creator/NatalieWood's death and rumors that she may have been murdered.
* Season 16's "Intimidation Game", which conflates the [=GamerGate=] controversies of late 2014 with, of all things, ISIS terrorist activity and kidnappings. This episode is infamous for drawing the ire of both sides of the debate. Not least of which was because the episode treated the terrorist gamers as being unable to separate the games from reality (including the POV of the would-be killer having a ''HUD''), when previous episodes that dealt with gaming and violence went out of their way to say no, video games don't make you a deluded killer.
* Other prominent ripped-from-the-headlines episodes over the years feature: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ng Charles Ng's]] rape and murder spree and extradition proceedings from Canada (Season 2, "Manhunt"); the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abner_Louima Abner Louima assault]] (Season 4, "Rotten"); the renewed child molestation allegations against Michael Jackson (Season 5, "Sick"); the case of a British teacher who [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2345971.stm claimed a brain tumor drove him to pedophilia]] (Season 5, "Head"); and the side effects of using [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mefloquine Mefloquine]] to treat malaria in soldiers deployed in Iraq (Season 6, "Goliath")
* Season 13, Episode 15 "Hunting Ground", about a man who hunts and kills prostitutes and buries their bodies on a local beach: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hansen Robert Hansen]] and the still-unidentified [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_serial_killer Long Island Serial Killer.]]
* Season 15, Episode 2 "Imprisoned Lives" very clearly ripped the Ariel Castro affair, with the (visibly disgusted) detectives commenting near the end that the suspect they caught would likely kill himself in prison (as Castro did only months before the episode aired). The episode also brought in elements of the Tanya Kach kidnapping case as the backstory of one of the victims.
* Season 15, Episode 3 "American Tragedy" managed to pull off another trifecta, combining the New York Police Department Stop-and-Frisk debacle, Paula Deen's racist comments scandal, and the Trayvon Martin case, by having a rich, white, Southern celebrity chef shoot an unarmed black teenager simply because of his race.
* Season 16, Episode 2 "American Disgrace" scored a trifecta: The Solange Knowles elevator rampage (sudden attack on a famous African-American) combined with the Ray Rice elevator attack (very serious footage of abuse by an African-American sports star) with a Sterling racism rant on top (rich, older white man slagging off on the very African-Americans who earn him money while being secretly recorded).
* "Pornstar's Requiem" in season 16 revolves around a character based on Belle Knox, the Duke pornstar.
* The season 16 episode, "Glasgowman's Wrath," is about two girls who stabbed their friend in order to lure out the mythical Glasgowman. It was very blatantly ripped from the story of two girls who tried to [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2646432/12-year-old-Wisconsin-girls-stab-friend-19-times.html murder their friend in the hopes of summoning Slenderman.]]
* Season 16, Episode 18 "Devastating Story" is based on the discredited ''[[Magazine/RollingStone Rolling Stone]]'' story alleging a culture of fraternity-driven rape at the University of Virginia.
* The 100th episode, "Control", is based on the story of John Jamelske, who spent five years kidnapping women of varying ages and ethnicities and holding them prisoner in his home for varying intervals (several years for some, several months for others) before eventually releasing them. Unlike the real-life case, where Jamelske was eventually caught and arrested, the twist came when the perp in question was murdered by one of his victims when she encountered him on the subway sometime after her release.
* Season 15, episode 6 "October Surprise" combines the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal with a little bit of the John Edwards out of wedlock baby scandal (in which he had a baby with his mistress, made one of his aides claim the baby, and used presidential campaign funds to cover it up). In this episode, ADA Barba's childhood friend and mayoral candidate Alex Munoz is found to have various mistresses which he met online. The SVU finds this out when one of the mistresses threatens to talk and Munoz's aide (and childhood friend) Eddie is sent to keep her quiet, during which she accuses him of rape. When he is questioned, Eddie claims that she's his girlfriend and they had a disagreement. Later on, it's revealed that Munoz bribes his mistresses to keep quiet, in extreme cases fraudulently getting them high paying government jobs.
* Pole vaulter Jenna Miller from the season 15 episode, "Heightened Emotions", was based on Olympic long-distance runner [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzy_Favor_Hamilton Suzy Favor Hamilton]].
* Season 18, Episode 17 "Real Fake News" is based on the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, as well as Edgar Maddison Welch, a North Carolina man that traveled to the accused pizza place and fired a gun into it hoping to "rescue children".
* Season 19, Episode 10 "Pathological" is based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Dee_Dee_Blanchard Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard case]], where a mother with Munchausen syndrome by proxy convinced everyone that her daughter was seriously ill for several years, and was eventually murdered by her daughter.
* Season 19, Episode 20 "The Book of Esther" is based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turpin_case Turpin case]], where a couple spent several years abusing their 13 children. The family's visit to a bowling alley wearing numbered jumpers and subsequent photoshoot replicates a photo of the Turpin family wearing numbered shirts based on Thing One and Thing Two from ''Literature/TheCatInTheHat''.
* The writers must have placed a challenge on themselves when they made Season 10, Episode 4 "Lunacy" which is apparently inspired by Buzz Aldrin punching Moon Landing conspiracy theorist Bart Sibrel, of all things (the incident is directly referenced in the episode by the fictional version of Aldrin). Lisa Nowak's arrest is indirectly alluded to in another scene, as a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot precedent of astronaut-on-astronaut violence]].
* The writers are well aware of their reputation and exploit it rather than denying it. ''Hours'' after Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York for the alleged sexual abuse of a hotel maid, it was announced that the show had already an outline for an upcoming episode based on the case, and it later went through several rewrites as the court case unfolded. It eventually became the Season 13 premiere "Scorched Earth", but instead of Strauss-Kahn, the suspect was an Italian diplomat that resembled Silvio Berlusconi.
* Season 20, Episode 3 "Zero Tolerance" is based on the 2018 immigration crisis where hundreds of families were torn apart and kids were locked up in detention centers, separated from their families.
* Season 21, Episode 3, "Down Low in Hell's Kitchen" largely tackles the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jussie_Smollett_alleged_assault Jussie Smollett hate crime allegations]] with a little bit of the arrest of [[https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/03/us/ed-buck-federal-drug-indictment/index.html Ed Buck]] for allegedly killing multiple gay black men via drug overdose. Unlike the real Smollett case, there is hard proof of someone targeting gay men, but the pop singer Mathis pretends to have been victimized in order to come out as gay before TMZ outs him.
* Season 14, episode 14 "Secrets Exhumed" is based on the case of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Sherri_Rasmussen Stephanie Lazarus]], a cop who'd murdered her romantic rival and used her position to avoid being caught for over two decades.
* Season 16, Episode 4, "Holden's Manifesto" was based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Isla_Vista_killings 2014 Isla Vista killings]] perpetrated by Elliot Rogers. Both feature young misogynists who took their love life-related frustrations by targeting random women.

* Season 15, episode 2 "The Dead Wives Club" features a ferry crash that bears resemblance to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Staten_Island_Ferry_crash 2003 Staten Island Ferry Crash]].

As the TropeNamer for RippedFromTheHeadlines, the number of examples comes as no surprise.

* Season 16, episode 4: "Age of Innocence" was clearly based on the Terri Schiavo case. Guess which side got to be the murderers? [[spoiler:If you guessed [[AcceptableTargets those wacky, fanatical Christians]] - you're right.]]

* The first season episode "Poison" is strongly inspired by the Stella Nickell case. She had initially killed her husband with cyanide-tainted Excedrin capsules on June 5, 1986, though his death was ruled to be by natural causes. Nickell, however, would get a higher payout on his life insurance if he died from accidental causes, so she planted 4 more bottles of tainted capsules in local stores. When a woman, Sue Snow, was reported as having died from cyanide poisoning, Stella told police she thought her husband might also have used Excedrin. Further examination showed he did have cyanide in his body. Her story fell apart, however, and she was sentenced to 90 years in prison. [[note]]Nickell's crime itself was essentially a copycat of the "Tylenol Murders" in Chicago from 1982 -- seven people died in that case and it remains unsolved.[[/note]] Some minor differences were that in real life only one person (other than the killer's husband) died, there was no 'Angel of Death' to complicate matters, the real case involved a life insurance payout rather than a lawsuit, and Stella wanted to open up a fish store, instead of a baby clothing shop. Interestingly enough, the evidence of algaecide becoming mixed with the cyanide when Stella used the same container to crush both substances was utilized in a ''different'' season one episode, "Art". In that one, algaecide had instead been accidentally mixed into the murderer's green paint.

* The first season episode "Poison" is strongly inspired by the Stella Nickell case. She had initially killed her husband with cyanide-tainted Excedrin capsules on June 5, 1986, though his death was ruled to be by natural causes. Nickell, however, would get a higher payout on his life insurance if he died from accidental causes, so she planted 4 more bottles of tainted capsules in local stores. When a woman, Sue Snow, was reported as having died from cyanide poisoning, Stella told police she thought her husband might also have used Excedrin. Further examination showed he did have cyanide in his body. Her story fell apart, however, and she was sentenced to 90 years in prison. [[note]]Nickell's crime itself was essentially a copycat of the "Tylenol Murders" in Chicago from 1982 -- seven people died in that case and it remains unsolved.[[/note]] Some minor differences were that in real life only one person (other than the killer's husband) died, there was no 'Angel of Death' to complicate matters, the real case involved a life insurance payout rather than a lawsuit, and Stella wanted to open up a fish store, instead of a baby clothing shop.

* Season 1, episode 9: "Indifference" is so obviously inspired by the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Steinberg Lisa Steinberg]] case that it concludes with a long disclaimer both displayed and spoken about how the real case differed from the story just shown. It remains the only episode in any series in the franchise to do anything of that nature. It is easily the creepiest moment of the entire series considering they used the same title sequence narrator to tell the audience that the horrific case and the depraved criminals involved have some basis in real life.

* The season two episode "Baggage" is based on the unsolved murder of Su_Taraskiewicz.