Hochul to select man she granted clemency to help oversee state prisons

Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to nominate Alexander Dockery, a formerly incarcerated person whom she previously granted clemency, to a three-person state board tasked with overseeing conditions at correctional facilities in the state, according to sources. His nomination to the state Commission of Correction is one of a number the state Senate will need to confirm before the end of the legislative session that lawmakers and the public are finally beginning to get information on.

A prison reform omnibus bill signed by the governor last year newly requires the commission to have at least one formerly incarcerated person to serve on it. The change came amid intense scrutiny of prison conditions following the beating death of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility in December 2024. 

Criminal justice advocates applauded the move. “It would signal a major shift in how New York understands leadership, redemption, public safety, and the lived expertise of formerly incarcerated people,” Anthony Dixon, the deputy director of the Parole Preparation Project who himself was previously incarcerated, said in a statement. “This is the kind of appointment that can widen imagination, challenge old assumptions and open doors to a more humane, accountable, and forward thinking corrections system.”

Hochul commuted Dockery’s sentence in 2023, one of her periodic clemency actions. Dockery had served about 23 years of a 25-to-life sentence on a series of nonviolent burglary and trespassing charges. While incarcerated, he earned his GED, as well as his associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Hochul’s office said at the time that Dockery intended to pursue his PhD upon his release.

Dockery’s nomination will likely be the most notable of the state Senate confirmations this year, but it’s hardly the only one. Democrats are also expected to approve John Kagia, currently the acting executive director of the state Office of Cannabis Management, to serve in the position permanently. City & State first reported Hochul had tapped Kagia for the role in February. 

The role has undergone turbulence practically since its creation. The governor ousted the first executive director, Chris Alexander, as part of her overhaul of the agency following a sluggish roll out of the legal adult-use market and other mismanagement causing lawsuits and delays. Hochul then fired Kagia’s immediate predecessor Felicia A.B. Reid last year over a significant snafu around policing illicit cannabis sales; Reid never underwent state Senate confirmation.

State senators are also set to confirm two dozen appointees to the state Court of Claims, as well as a handful of interim Supreme Court justices.

Following their confirmation hearings, each of Hochul’s nominees are expected to receive approval from the full state Senate. It’s rare for lawmakers to reject her picks, and even rarer to do so without some kind of prior public indication.