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click here to read Lynne's biography
 In 1991, Lynne Abraham was selected to be the first woman to serve as Philadelphia's District Attorney, and she won election to that position in 1993, 1997, 2001 and 2005. 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 our city and state through innovative programs and legislation to help crime victims and law enforcement.
Lynne has combated violent crime through aggressive and effective prosecutions of the most dangerous criminals and by reorganizing the District Attorney's Office for maximum effectiveness. She formed the Repeat Offender Unit to target the most dangerous serial felons, and she created the FAST (Federal Alternative to State Trials) Unit to punish firearms offenders in the federal court system, where gun offenders receive stiffer sentences under the federal guidelines. She also partnered with Legislators and community groups to draft and implement the Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia, a comprehensive response to violent crime.
Lynne created the Family Violence & Sexual Assault Unit to take advantage of the high level of specialization necessary to fight child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence. Lynne's Latina Domestic Violence Project has formed and strengthened partnerships with Women Organized Against Rape, Lutheran Settlement House, and Women in Transition to deal with the unique challenges posed by intra-family violence in the Latina community. Lynne promotes collaboration with victim advocacy groups as a participant in Philadelphia's Domestic Violence Task Force, Sexual Assault Advisory Council and Law Enforcement Child Abuse Project. Lynne set aside a user-friendly waiting room in the Criminal Justice Center for victims and their families and included a child-friendly play room for children who are required to go to court.
By creating the Elder Justice Project, she made sure that our seniors get extra attention and assistance if they become victims of crimes. For children who are victims of or witnesses to crime, Lynne created Court School, which is an education program to help prepare children for the daunting task of testifying in the adult world of the criminal justice system. Lynne's Economic and Cyber Crime Unit tackles cases in which savvy criminals use technology to prey upon their victims.
The Public Nuisance Task Force is another unit that Lynne created to help improve the quality of life for Philadelphians by closing hundreds of nuisance bars and drug houses throughout our city. Lynne was also the driving force behind the creation of Philadelphia's Drug Treatment Court, which helps drug addicted offenders beat their addiction and change their behavior. She created a specialized Gun Court to help stem the tide of deadly handgun violence in our city, and she is currently working for the establishment of a specialized DUI Court, to repeat the success of Drug Treatment Court in the area of drunk driving.
Lynne pioneered and expanded several important programs to help at-risk youth, such as Youth Aid Panels for first-time offenders. Her Youth Violence Reduction Partnership is a program involving a number of criminal justice, city, and non-profit agencies designed to lower homicide rates in the most violent parts of Philadelphia by focusing on those youth under the age of twenty-five who are most at risk of killing or being killed. Lynne has also developed and implemented a juvenile justice educational curriculum for school students and a truancy reduction program.
To ensure that the District Attorney's Office reflects the diversity of our community, Lynne formed the office's Minority Recruitment Committee, which works with the hiring committee to find the best-qualified applicants. Lynne also created the position of Hate Crimes Coordinator to work collaboratively with other agencies to combat hate crimes. She also appointed a liaison to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community to address the unique needs of those groups. With the formation of Urban Genesis, Inc., Lynne became one of the first district attorneys in the country to form a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation that operates in a district attorney's office to promote community leadership and provide grants to fund projects to improve our neighborhoods and help the needy.
Lynne's legislative accomplishments are substantial. Since her election, she has served as the Legislative Chair on the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and she is a member of the Legislative Subcommittee of the National District Attorneys Association. Lynne has built strong relationships in the General Assembly, and has drafted, lobbied, and promoted hundreds of bills for the benefit of crime victims and the law enforcement community. The following are just a few of her legislative accomplishments:
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Amended Pennsylvania's Constitution to permit children to testify against their abusers by closed-circuit television
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Amended Pennsylvania's Constitution to ensure that the prosecution has the right to request a jury trial
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Amended Pennsylvania's Constitution to permit the most dangerous criminals to be held without bail
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2006 - Comprehensive Child Abuse Reform Package -- six separate laws that protect child victims by apprehending and punishing their abusers through a strengthening of criminal and child protective services laws (enacts grand jurors' recommendations from the Philadelphia Clergy Abuse Investigation)
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2006 - Created DUI Victim Impact Panels
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2005 - Strengthens Pennsylvania's Protection From Abuse law and creates a judicial process for the relinquishment of all firearms by the abuser (not just weapons used in the domestic violence incident)
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2003 - Safe Havens -- Creates exceptions to criminal liability for leaving a newborn child at a "safe haven," such as a hospital or police station
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2002 - Expanded the Crime Victims' Act to cover the costs of psychological counseling, prescription medicines and replacement costs for medical devices (canes, wheelchairs, prosthetics, etc.)
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1998 - Victims Bill of Rights -- this critical legislation provided access to information, notice provisions and heightened sensitivity to victims' needs that were unprecedented under Pennsylvania law
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1997 - Victim Impact Statements -- permits the crime victim to submit an impact statement at sentencing hearing for a convicted defendant
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1995 - Created the Office of Victim Advocate within the PA State Parole Board
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1995 - Mandatory Restitution -- provides that the court shall order restitution to compensate a victim's loss
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1993 - Added the crime of "stalking" to the Pennsylvania Crimes Code
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1991 - Expanded the Crime Victims' Compensation Act to include compensation for victims of DUI and vehicular homicide
In addition to serving as the city's chief law enforcement officer since 1991, Lynne has committed her entire career to serving our community. Lynne was born and raised in Philadelphia and educated in its public schools. After graduating from Temple University Law School in 1965, she worked as an Attorney in the Regional Counsel's Office of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development where she prepared federal loans, grants and contracts for urban renewal projects. She received an appointment as a Philadelphia assistant district attorney in 1967 and was assigned principally to Major Trial and Homicide Units until she left the office in 1972. She next became the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, where she was responsible for over $100 million of urban renewal projects in Philadelphia including planning and condemnation work, managed a staff of 400, and testified before City Council of Philadelphia for the authority's budget and programs.
Lynne then 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 citizen's groups and revised portions of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter. After that, she worked as a research assistant to Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Alexander F. Barbieri. Lynne was elected Judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court in 1977 and she was elected to the Court of Common Pleas in 1980, where she presided over criminal trials until she became District Attorney in 1991.
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