History RippedFromTheHeadlines / LawAndOrder

* 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.
* "The Good Doctor" is based off of Dr. Robert Birenbaum.

* "Neighborhood Watch" was taken off of the November 2007 brutal murder of Daniel Sorensen by Jean Pierre Orlewicz and Alexander Letkemann.

* "Cold Case" was inspired by the controversy regarding Hall of Fame baseball player Ted Williams' death and the fight amongst his children over whether or not to have his body cryogenically frozen. Additionally, the late Senator at the heart of the fight had a moment where he pubically cried during his ill-fated attempt to run for the Presidency in the 70's, a reference to a similar incident in 1972 involving Maine Senator Ed Muskie.

* The murderous group from "Slither" are based off the the Manson family. The episode even lampshades this.

* 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 16 & Pregnant, this episode might count as a quadruple use of this trope.

* One noteworthy episode ("Want") is based on Jeffrey Dahmer, and includes things like the killer being employed in a candy-related job, his longing for a permanent companion, cannibalism of body parts, boiling water being poured into holes drilled in the victim's head, and [[spoiler: the killer being murdered in prison while on work detail]] -- really the only substantial deviation from the true story (other than compressing the timeline) is that the fictional killer targets women, where Dahmer famously targeted young men. Creator/NeilPatrickHarris even looks frighteningly similar to Dahmer in the episode.

* One noteworthy episode ("Want") is based on Jeffrey Dahmer, and includes things like the killer being employed in a candy-related job, his longing for a permanent companion, cannibalism of body parts, boiling water being poured into holes drilled in the victim's head, and [[spoiler: the killer being murdered in prison while on work detail]]. Creator/NeilPatrickHarris even looks frighteningly similar to Dahmer in the episode.

* Season 17, episode 16: "Murder Book" is about an Italian baseball star Creator/OJSimpson expy, who like Simpson, writes a "If I done it" tell all book after getting acquitted of murdering his wife and how it ends being his downfall.

* Season 11, Episode 14: "A Losing Season" - was based largely on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rae_Carruth Rae Carruth]] case with the major difference being, the Carruth stand in is a professional baseball player, not a professional football player like the man was in real life.

** "Wicked" is about a rich, gay, white man with powerful political connections, who preyed upon young black gay men with drug issues and caused one of them to overdose and die. This was based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Buck Ed Buck case.]]

** "The Great Pretender" combines two ripped from the headline stories. The expy of the con-artist Anna Delvey, and ultimately the opioid epidemic.

** "Legacy" is about a young unstable man who commits a school shooting and the D.A office charging the father for knowingly giving his son a loaded gun prior to the shooting. This is based on recent cases of school shootings and the parents getting charged along with the child who committed the horrible act, like the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_High_School_shooting Oxford Shooting]].

** The season premiere, "The Right Thing", is about a popular black entertainer imprisoned for rape and released on a technicality, similar to Bill Cosby.

* Season 17, episode 7: "In Vino Veritas", which, like the Michael Jackson example above, was about taking a celebrity scandal and cranking it UpToEleven, 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.

* The first character played by Jay O. Sanders was obviously based on famous mob hitman Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski.

* "Dead" took some inspiration from the real-life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-State_Crematory_scandal Tri-State Crematory scandal]], in which a crematory owner stopped cremating corpses and simply dumped them around the property.

* Season 16, episode 6: "Political Animal" was based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Craig_scandal Larry Craig scandal]] where an anti-LGBT rights politician was arrested for indecent behavior in the men's restroom of an airport.

* With the show's comeback in 2022, 21st season has had ''three'' ripped from the headlines episodes in a row.
** The season premiere "The Right Thing" was about a popular black entertainer imprisoned for rape and released on a technicality, similar to Bill Cosby.
** The second episode, "Impossible Dream", centered on a female CEO who had murdered her fiancé/business partner when he discovered that the medical tests her company provided were fraudulent. This was based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Holmes case of Elizabeth Holmes]].
** "Filtered Life" focused on the disappearance of a social media celebrity who may have been killed by her boyfriend. The case was based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Gabby_Petito the murder of Gabby Petito]].

* With the original's comeback in 2022, the premeire "The Right Thing" was about a popular black entertainer imprisoned for rape and released on a technicality, similar to Bill Cosby.

* Season 18, episode 15: "Bogeyman" referenced the Scientology {{paranoia fuel}}ed [[DrivenToSuicide suicides]] of a [[http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/01/suicides200801 prominent New York artist couple]] (you've seen the husband's artwork if you saw the trailer for Creator/AdamSandler's ''Film/PunchDrunkLove'' or Beck's ''Sea Change'' album). Notable in the fact that Assist. DA Cutter pretends to be an [[ChurchOfHappyology expy-Scientologist]] as part of a BatmanGambit; sadly, the expy-[[FanNickName Scilons]] have yet to return. [[note]]The Scientologists' harassment tactic isn't meant to drive their victim(s) to suicide, just away from investigating Scientology. Going crazy and being committed (the ultimate hell for the psychiatry-loathing Scientologists) or broke from filing libel suits is just a bonus.[[/note]]

* 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 used a piece of the Tanya Kach kidnapping case as the backstory of one of the victims.

* 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 used elements from the Tanya Kach kidnapping case in the backstory of one of the victims.

* 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).

* SVU episode ''"Torch"'' covers the case of Texas man [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameron_Todd_Willingham Cameron Todd Willingham]], who was executed early in the century, 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.