Reagan’s shooter to go free
Hinckley found mentally fit, can live with mom, judge says.
WASHINGTON — More than 35 years after he tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan to impress actress Jodie Foster, John Hinckley Jr. will be allowed to leave a Washington mental hospital and live full time with his mother in Virginia, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
Judge Paul Friedman wrote that Hinckley — who currently spends more than half his days at his mother’s home — is ready to live full time in the community. Friedman granted Hinckley leave from the hospital starting no sooner than Aug. 5.
Doctors have said for many years that Hinckley, 61, who was acquitted by reason of insanity in the shooting, is no longer plagued by the mental illness that drove him to shoot Reagan.
Three others were wounded in the March 30, 1981, shooting outside a Washington hotel, including Reagan’s spokesman, James Brady, who was left paralyzed and spent years before his death in 2014 advocating for gun control. Hinckley used six exploding “Devastator” bullets from a .22-caliber pistol.
Reagan recovered from the shooting after emergency surgery. He died in 2004 at age 93.
Hinckley was a “profoundly troubled 25-yearold young man” when he shot Reagan, but his mental illnesses — depression and psychotic disorder — have been in remission for more than 27 years, Friedman wrote.
“Mr. Hinckley, by all accounts, has shown no signs of psychotic symptoms, delusional thinking, or any violent tendencies,” the judge wrote in his 103-page opinion. “The court finds that Mr. Hinckley has received the maximum benefits possible in the inpatient setting [and] that inpatient treatment is no longer clinically warranted or beneficial.”
Hinckley’s release from Washington’s St. Elizabeths hospital has been more than a decade in the making. He was allowed day visits with his parents in 2003, and in 2006, he began visiting his parents’ home in Williamsburg, Va., for three-night stretches. That time has increased over the years so that for the past two-plus years, he has been allowed to spend 17 days a month at the house overlooking a golf course in a gated community.
Hinckley’s longtime attorney, Barry Levine, said he and his client were gratified by the order and that Hinckley has thrived under his new liberties.
“Mr. Hinckley recognizes that what he did was horrific. But it’s crucial to understand that what he did was not an act of evil. It was an act caused by mental illness,” Levine said in a statement. “He is profoundly sorry and he wishes he could take back that day, but he can’t. And he has lived for decades recognizing the pain he caused his victims, their families, and the nation.”
The late president’s son, Michael Reagan, tweeted that others should forgive Hinckley the way his father did. But Reagan’s daughter, Patti Davis, wrote on Facebook that “forgiving someone in your heart doesn’t [mean] that you let them loose in Virginia to pursue whatever dark agendas they may still hold dear.”
The foundation that honors Reagan’s legacy said Hinckley should remain in custody, noting his responsibility for Brady’s death. Medical examiners ruled Brady’s death in August 2014 a homicide resulting from the wound in the shooting. Prosecutors declined to charge Hinckley with murder, in part because they would be barred from arguing he was sane at the time of the shootings.
“Contrary to the judge’s decision, we believe John Hinckley is still a threat to others and we strongly oppose his release,” the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute said in a statement.
Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, declined to offer an opinion on Hinckley’s release but used the occasion to call for background checks for all gun sales, which Reagan supported. He noted in a statement that it would be “just as easy” for a would-be assassin to buy a gun today as it was for Hinckley.
Bill Miller, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips of Washington, said the office was reviewing the judge’s opinion and had no comment.
While outside the hospital, Hinckley has had to comply with restrictions, and some of those will continue. He must attend individual and group therapy sessions and is barred from talking to the media. He can drive, but there are restrictions on how far he can travel. The Secret Service also periodically follows him.
Hinckley must return to Washington once a month for doctors to check on his mental state and his compliance with the conditions of his leave, the judge ruled.
He also will be barred from trying to contact Foster, all relatives of Reagan and Brady or the other two victims — police officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy — and their families.
He will have to live with his mother for a year, limited to a 50-mile radius from Williamsburg. After that, he will have the freedom to live on his own, with roommates or in a group home in the Williamsburg area. If his 90-year-old mother, Jo Ann, is unable to monitor him, then his brother or sister, who both live in the Dallas area, have agreed to stay with him until other arrangements are made. Hinckley’s father died in 2008.
The order also requires him to turn over information about his mobile phone and vehicles he will be driving. Friedman also ordered Hinckley to give authorities access to his email account and barred him from setting up or posting on social media accounts.
If Hinckley relapses or violates the terms of his release, he could be returned to St. Elizabeths, the judge said.
The judge ordered Hinckley to volunteer or work at a paid job at least three days a week. He has sought out work and volunteer opportunities but so far has been unable to secure employment. According to court records, he has said it was difficult for him to ask for jobs at Starbucks and Subway while being followed by the Secret Service. “It made me feel awkward and uncomfortable,” he said.
He has spent time volunteering at a church as well as a mental hospital. He also has attended meetings for people living with mental illness, talks at an art museum, and concerts.
“I don’t like flipping around the TV, I want to do things,” a court document quoted him saying.
He also has said he wants to “fit in” and be “a good citizen.”