Hinckley To Go Unsupervised?
Officials at St. Elizabeth's hospital in Washington say John Hinckley, Jr.'s mental illness is in remission, and they're recommending that he be allowed to leave the hospital for unsupervised day visits with his family.
Hinckley, 44, shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and has been confined at St. Elizabeth's since 1982. He has tried several times to get court permission to take day-long visits without having anybody supervising him. A judge turned him down most recently in 1997, but at that time Hinckley did not have the support of hospital staff.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday hospital officials now think Hinckley has "sufficiently recovered from his mental illness" to be allowed "conditional release."
Under that type of release Hinckley would be allowed to visit his parents between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on one weekend day per month with a 50-mile radius of the hospital.
The U.S. attorney's office opposes this and will ask a judge to block the visits. Members of Reagan's family have protested letting Hinckley out on his own, saying there is no evidence that Hinckley is not a threat anymore.
Hinckley, who attacked Reagan outside a Washington hotel in 1981, was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was sent to St. Elizabeth's and is currently allowed day trips with hospital supervision.
He has taken several trips to shopping malls and stores under those conditions without incident.
Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder said Sunday that because of Hinckley's history before and during his confinement at a mental hospital, the Justice Department would be concerned because of "the threat he poses to the president and other people."
In the current issue of Time magazine, Reagan's daughter Patti Davis writes of her fears that Hinckley may still be dangerous.
"I believe that Hinckley knew full well what evil is: I believe he was drawn to it, excited by it and I believe that he may still be," she wrote.
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