Character: Lynne Abraham

She’s the Death Penalty D.A. — an ugly role that bulldog Lynne Abraham seems born to play. And there’s the longtime buzz that she refuses to raise the lid on the filthy ashcan of her own party’s city politics. But if you simply talk to our district attorney, and get a dose of her plainspoken passion, the image flips. 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.