A Federal Judge has just decided that John Hinckley Jr., the man who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, will be set free from all of his current restrictions.
Judge Paul Friedman has declared that John Hinckley Jr. “has displayed no symptoms of active mental illness, no violent behavior and no interest in weapons since 1983” and decided he will no longer be a threat to the general public.
Hinckley who shot President Reagan, Press Secretary James Brady, a Secret Service Agent and a police officer was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
He was sent to live at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington but in 2016 he was released from the hospital and lived with his mother.
JUST IN: A federal judge has approved the unconditional release of John Hinckley Jr., who wounded the late President Ronald Reagan and 3 others outside a D.C. hotel in a failed assassination attempt in 1981.https://t.co/Vj64abdXkd
— NPR (@NPR) September 27, 2021
ALERT:
Per attorneys, agreement has been reached for "unconditional release" from supervision for attempted Reagan assassin John Hinckley
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 27, 2021
The Associated Press and more on the story:
A federal judge said Monday that John Hinckley Jr., who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan four decades ago, can be freed from all remaining restrictions next year if he continues to follow those rules and remains mentally stable.
U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman in Washington said during a 90-minute court hearing that he’ll issue his ruling on the plan this week.
Since Hinckley moved to Williamsburg, Virginia, from a Washington hospital in 2016, court-imposed restrictions have required doctors and therapists to oversee his psychiatric medication and therapy. Hinckley has been barred from having a gun. And he can’t contact Reagan’s children, other victims or their families, or actress Jodie Foster, who he was obsessed with at the time of the 1981 shooting.
Statement by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute on John Hinckley, Jr. pic.twitter.com/5Hf1mBX3ma
— Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute (@RonaldReagan) September 27, 2021
NPR got the scoop too:
A federal judge has approved the unconditional release next year of John Hinckley Jr., who wounded President Ronald Reagan and three others outside a Washington, D.C., hotel in a failed assassination attempt in 1981.
Hinckley is now 66 years old and has been living outside a mental health facility for the past several years, a result of a gradual lightening of supervision. His lawyer said the “momentous event” of Hinckley’s full release in June is both appropriate and required by the law.
“There is no evidence of danger whatsoever,” Barry Wm. Levine said, adding that Hinckley has an “excellent” prognosis.
Prosecutor Kacie Weston said the Justice Department agreed to a settlement but wanted to monitor Hinckley for the next nine months because of two big changes in his life: He’s living on his own for the first time in about 40 years, and because one of his primary doctors is preparing for retirement and disbanding Hinckley’s therapy group. The Justice Department said it would file a motion with the court before June if it had fresh concerns about Hinckley.
Do you believe Hinckley served his time or due you believe his restrictions should stay in place.
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