We Did It! Formerly Incarcerated Person Appointed to the State Commission of Correction
Our members & community organizer with Commissioner Dockery outside the Senate Chambers, 6.4.2026
TOGETHER, WE DID IT! Yesterday, the New York Senate confirmed Alexander Dockery as a part-time Commissioner to the State Commission of Correction (SCOC), New York’s jail and prison oversight agency. This is a result of months of organizing and applying unyielding pressure on Governor Hochul and the Senate to fill the SCOC’s vacancies. Mr. Dockery becomes the first formerly incarcerated person to be appointed to the SCOC, this is historic and a result of the collective organizing and the support of more than 160 groups across the state!
As jails and prisons across the state are in crisis, greater oversight is needed to improve conditions and save lives. Yesterday’s nomination is a critical step in the right direction, and we look forward to working with Commissioner Dockery to ensure the SCOC uses its wide-ranging authority to improve conditions, save lives, and, where necessary, shut down facilities that are out of compliance with state law. However, the work is not done as Governor Hochul must fill the remaining two SCOC vacancies with reform-oriented individuals.
We’ll continue the fight. If you have any questions about the State Commission on Corrections or want to get involved in our organizing work, please reach out to Yonah at Yonah@katalcenter.org.
Testimony for City Council Hearing on FY2027 Executive Budget Hearing on the DOC
On Tuesday, the New York City Council Committee on Criminal Justice and Committee on Finance held a joint hearing on the Fiscal Year 2027 Executive Budget for the Department of Corrections. Right now, the crisis at Rikers is worsening, the jail population is rising, and the closure plan remains off track. Yet the FY2027 executive budget allocates $2.96 billion to DOC, which represents a 3.8% increase for the agency budget compared with last year’s adopted budget. This budget continues the status quo of increasing the budgets used to cage people while inadequately funding the programs and services proven to keep our communities safe and thriving without relying on incarceration.
The budget also fails to investigate and address the increased costs to the Borough-Based Jails (BBJ), which have risen from the original estimate of $8 billion when the closure law was enacted in 2019 to nearly $16 billion today. The budget increases funding for the DOC without a clear and reconfigured plan that provides a definite date for when Rikers will be closed.
See Katal’s written testimony for today’s budget hearing here.
Take action here to contact Mayor Mamdani and demand that he pass a budget that reduces the jail population and shuts down Rikers.
If you have any questions about our Shut Riker campaigns and organizing, please contact Melanie at Melanie@katalcenter.org.
June Statewide Criminal Justice Reform
Our next NY Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call is Thursday, June 11th, at noon! As we’re writing this the Senate has finished and the Assembly is still wrapping things up today. On Thursday, we’ll spend the first part of the call debriefing the legislative session and discussing what bills passed and which did not. As usual, we’ll also hear from organizers on advocates working to overhaul the State Commission of Correction, protect incarcerated women, hold judges accountable and utilize the opioid settlement funds.
Register here to join us this Thursday, June 11th, from noon to 1 p.m.
If you have any questions about the statewide call or would like to be a presenter, please contact Yonah at Yonah@katalcenter.org
Save the Date: Thursday, June 25th – Katal Center Archive Event and Open House
Join us at our open house on Thursday, June 25 from 1:30pm – 6pm! For our 10th anniversary, we’re opening our physical archives—materials from across the last decade of organizing and advocacy to build community-based power and end mass incarceration. Come hang out with us and browse the archives. Kids are welcome. We’ll have some light food and drinks, and some fun activities, a giveaway, and maybe even a special raffle. RSVP here to join us on Thursday 6/25!
Our office is small, so we’re asking folks to RSVP for a particular time of day. Got questions? Please email: operations@katalcenter.org. We can’t wait to see you soon!
Inspiring Resistance This Week
-Community members continue to protest outside of the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark, NJ. The protests are in response to the dangerous living conditions at teh facilitly and hunger strike by the people detained there. Click here to learn more.
For more examples of resistance, check out Choose Democracy’s Resist List!
Quotes of the Week
“Movement culture is created when people need each other to win their own freedom, and they are willing to engage in collective sacrifice and actions that reinforce their solidarity.” – James Mumm
“Love is an action, never simply a feeling.” – bell hooks
For printing and distribution, download the Katal Weekly Update PDF version.
Katal develops intergenerational leadership and organizing capacity to build community-based power and win systemic change for equity, health, and justice.
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Email: info@katalcenter.org
Phone: 646.875.8822.