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Lynne Abraham
	Lynne Abraham
	; Lynne Abraham
	District Attorney of Philadelphia
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; May 16, 1991
Preceded by	Ronald D. Castille
Succeeded by	R. Seth Williams (elect)
Born	1941;
Political party	Democrat
Spouse(s)	Frank Ford (deceased)
Residence	Philadelphia
Website	Official Website

Lynne Abraham (born 1941) has been the District Attorney of the City of Philadelphia since 1991, when she was selected to be the first woman to serve as Philadelphia's District Attorney. She has won election to that position four times. As District Attorney, she oversees the largest district attorney's office in Pennsylvania. The office prosecutes approximately 75,000 cases every year and is the largest appellate litigator in the Commonwealth. Lynne oversees a professional staff of 300 assistant district attorneys and 275 support staff. Since her first days in office, Lynne has been a strong voice for victims of crime and has worked to improve the District Attorney's Office and criminal justice system in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania through innovative programs and legislation to help crime victims and law enforcement.

Lynne Abraham was born and raised in Philadelphia and was educated in its public schools. She studied at Temple University for her undergraduate degree and also received her Juris Doctor from Temple University Beasley School of Law. She was married to Frank Ford until his death in March 2009.

Abraham is a former assistant DA. She served as a legislative consultant for the City Council of Philadelphia, where she assisted council in conducting investigations, drafted legislation, testified at public hearings, met with citizens' groups and revised portions of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter. Abraham served as the head of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority during the administration of Mayor Frank Rizzo. She was elected Judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court in 1977, then was elected to the Court of Common Pleas in 1980, where she presided over criminal trials until she became District Attorney in 1991.

Abraham was elected by her fellow judges to take over as District Attorney in 1991 when then-DA Ronald Castille, now on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, stepped down from the post in order to run for mayor. As an incumbent, Abraham was elected to a four-year term in 1993 and was re-elected three times - in 1997 (defeating challengers Jack McMahon and Leon A. Williams), 2001 (defeating challengers Alexander Talmadge and Leon A. Williams) and 2005 (defeating challenger R. Seth Williams). In September 2006, she announced that she will not seek re-election in 2009. Upon completing her term in January 2010, she will have held the office of District Attorney longer than anyone in Philadelphia history.^{[citation needed]}

A liberal-to-moderate Democrat, she received the nicknames "Deadliest DA" and "Queen of Death" many years ago, for the high rate at which her office sought the death penalty in past decades.^[2] She has also worked hard to reduce the number of illegal handguns on the streets of the city. See Moms Against Guns website statement in External Links section.

Abraham has remained widely popular throughout her tenure in Philadelphia, both among her loyal staff and the citizens of Philadelphia. Recently, Philadelphia magazine had this to say about her: "She cares. Deeply. Angrily. On inner-city problems: 'What do you want us to do about your kid that you conceived when you were drunk or high, and you don’t care about your kid, don’t even know who the partner was?' Even when it was too late to prosecute priests accused of sexual abuse, she still hammered the Catholic Church for covering it up. That's refreshing in a town where leaders stay mum. Now in her 18th, and last, year as D.A., Abraham, 67, isn’t seeking reelection, and that’s a shame: There isn’t a whiff of scandal anywhere near her, a hell of a legacy for a 40-year public servant in this city." ^[3]

In the 2004 presidential election, she served as one of Pennsylvania's electors, casting her ballot for John Kerry.^[4] In the 2008 election, she cast her electoral ballot for Barack Obama.^[5]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

^ http://nl.newsbank.com/
^ Betsey Piette, "Why Philly D.A. Abraham is called 'Queen of Death'", in Communist Workers World, 17 May 2001; Rosenberg, Tina "The Deadliest DA" in The New York Times, 16 July 1995.
^ Robert Huber, Pulse: Character, Philadelphia magazine, January 2009.
^ http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2004_certificates/
^ Philadelphia Daily News, Clout column, Nov. 7, 2008: "Nutter, Abraham headed for college in Dec."

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[0] ttp://nl.newsbank.com/

[1] Betsey Piette, "Why Philly D.A. Abraham is called 'Queen of Death'", in Communist Workers World, 17 May 2001; Rosenberg, Tina "The Deadliest DA" in The New York Times, 16 July 1995.

[2] Robert Huber, Pulse: Character, Philadelphia magazine, January 2009.

[3] ttp://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2004_certificates/

[4] Philadelphia Daily News, Clout column, Nov. 7, 2008: "Nutter, Abraham headed for college in Dec."

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