Ripped from headlines has always been a staple of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," but the latest headline ripped was one of its biggest yet. Republican Senatorial candidate Todd Akin used the phrase "legitimate rape" -- saying that victims of rape have ways of biologically shutting down their ability to get pregnant -- during his political campaign. In the episode, a congressman was brought in to use that defense in a rape case.
Lauren Cohan ("The Walking Dead") portrayed Avery Jordan, a sports reporter who was raped by her cameraman, played by David Marciano ("Homeland"). Only, one juror bought the "legitimate rape" argument, and he was able to get off on those charges. Then, he sued her for custody of the child, ultimately winning limited visitation. It was too much for the new mother to take, who fled with the child.
While the "legitimate rape" argument was determined a contributing factor in Akin's loss to Senator Claire McCaskill, according to USA Today, it proved successful on "SVU." Or at least, it was successful in the case of one juror, which was enough. All in all, it was a rather depressing case as the rapist walked free and even won visitation, while the victim was terrorized and forced to flee from the law, thus making her a fugitive and a wanted criminal. Sometimes evil does win, apparently.
The case proved particularly close to home for Benson, who hinted that her own conception might have been due to similar circumstances.
See which headline is ripped next on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
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