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Fei testified that Paterson is moving New York in the right direction, but she lamented the lack of information about the specific steps that must be taken to apply for a pardon. "Governor Paterson has issued some guidelines, but it seems like there’s still a lot of information that’s lacking and I think we need a lot more," she testified.
The panel members are Chairman Mark Bonacquist, who serves as the assistant deputy secretary of the state's Office of Public Safety; Das Velez, who serves as senior advisor to the Office of the Governor; Caroline J. Downey, who serves as the general counsel of New York State Division of Human Rights; Linda Glassman, who serves as a deputy commissioner of the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance; and Steven Philbrick, who serves as associate counsel to the Division of Parole.
The panel continues to establish its methods and procedures just after a June 14 U.S. Supreme Court ruling stopped immigration officials from automatically deporting legal residents convicted of multiple minor drug offenses. The ruling allows immigration judges to use more of their own discretion to punish those convicted.
