For would-be Reagan assassin, freedom only days away
WASHINGTON >> For the past decade, the man who shot President Ronald Reagan has quietly spent a growing number of his days living with his 90-year-old mother in a gated community in Williamsburg, Virginia. On Wednesday, a judge finalized John Hinckley Jr.’s transition to freedom, ordering that Hinckley can permanently leave the psychiatric hospital where he was confined after the assassination attempt.
The order, which cannot be appealed, has been in the works for years, despite opposition by prosecutors, who sought numerous restrictions on Hinckley’s freedom, most of which were agreed to by Judge Paul Friedman. Hinckley could leave St. Elizabeths Hospital as early as Aug. 5.
Hinckley, now 61, was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the March 30, 1981, shooting fueled by his obsession with the movie “Taxi Driver” and its teenage star, Jodie Foster. He used a pawn-shop revolver to fire six shots at Reagan, the president’s aides and his protective detail outside a Washington hotel, wounding the president and three others.
Doctors have said for many years that Hinckley’s mental illness was in remission, and Friedman concurred in his ruling. Hinckley was a “profoundly troubled 25-year-old young man” when he shot Reagan, the judge wrote, but has not exhibited symptoms of major depression or a psychotic disorder for more than 27 years.
“Mr. Hinckley, by all accounts, has shown no signs of psychotic symptoms, delusional thinking, or any violent tendencies,” Friedman wrote. “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 was first allowed to leave St. Elizabeths in 2003 to visit his parents in Washington, and he began staying with them at their Williamsburg home overlooking a golf course in 2006. For the past two-plus years, he has been allowed to spend 17 days a month with his mother.
Many of the restrictions attached to Hinckley’s temporary release will remain in place. He must attend individual and group therapy sessions and is barred from talking to the media. He can drive alone, but only within a 30-mile radius of Williamsburg, and the Secret Service will periodically follow him.
He also must return to Washington once a month so doctors can check on his mental state.
He will have to reside with his mother for a year. After that, he can live on his own, with roommates or in a group home in the Williamsburg area. If his mother is unable to monitor him in another setting, his brother or sister, both of whom live in the Dallas area, have agreed to stay with him until other arrangements are made. Hinckley’s father died in 2008.
The government could not persuade the judge to order Hinckley to wear an electronic ankle bracelet and install a tracking device on his car.
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,” Levine said in a statement. “It was an act caused by mental illness, an illness from which he no longer suffers.”
Reagan’s press secretary, James Brady, suffered debilitating injuries in the attack and died in 2014. Also wounded were police Officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy.
Hinckley will be barred from trying to contact Foster, Delahanty, McCarthy or any of his victim’s families.
Reaction to his release was mixed.
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, which was later ruled a homicide. 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.
“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.