Senate committees advance four nominees to New York State Parole Board

Albany — The Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee on June 11 held a combined confirmation hearing for four nominees to the New York State Parole Board and voted to advance all four to the Senate floor for consideration.

The nominees — former Assembly member Daniel “Danny” O’Donnell; Darlene Ray Bruce; Elizabeth Case; and Jose Ramirez — each described professional and personal experience they said would inform parole decisions, while senators pressed them on how they would weigh victim impact, statutory factors and public safety in cases involving violent or heinous crimes.

The hearing matters because the parole board decides whether people sentenced to long terms can return to communities and because recent years have seen policy and appointment changes that prompted questions from senators about board practice and accountability.

Danny O’Donnell, whom the governor nominated after a legislative career that included chairing the Assembly corrections committee, described visits to prisons and work with inmates and staff. “I would follow the law,” O’Donnell said when asked how he would approach tough cases. He also told…