Man who shot Reagan seeks to live outside mental hospital

[alp227]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — The would-be assassin of President Ronald Reagan is "clinically ready" to live fulltime outside a mental hospital, his lawyer argued in federal court on Wednesday.

John Hinckley Jr. has been in "full and stable remission" for more than two decades, his lawyer Barry Levine argued.

Prosecutor Colleen Kennedy argued to the contrary, saying more restrictions and conditions are needed to keep both Hinckley and others safe.

Hinckley was 25 when a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting of Reagan in 1981, which also seriously wounded Press Secretary James Brady. Ever since, Hinckley has lived at St. Elizabeths, a Washington mental hospital. But for a dozen years now, he's gradually been given more freedom.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/d6fe283674aa4c67946260ea935366f1/john-hinckley-returning-dc-court-hearings-freedom

[Politicalboi]

1. This rooster may come home to roost

Watch out Poppy.

[Lil Missy]

2. I think they should let him leave now.

[project_bluebook]

3. I would grant him his wish with only one stipulation

Stay away from fox news, that would turn anyone into a mindless terror threat.

[Paladin]

4. I think he should move next door to Wayne LaPierre. (nt)

[underpants]

5. NGRI is an endless sentence but I will be surprised if he gets out

We'll see

[irisblue]

9. what does NGRI mean please?

[LiberalElite]

10. I believe it's "Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity" nt

[underpants]

13. LE got it right in post #10

NGRI is an endless sentence. I used to work with Mental a Health professionals and they informed me that basically NGRI cases are at the will of whomever sits in the Judge's chair. Conditions depend on level of their problem and the crime they committed. Everything from employment to travel is affected. Daily to monthly check ins and even calling their case manager should they want to leave a set area or jurisdiction are common.

[MADem]

11. He's "out" for seventeen days a month, already--I think he shouldn't be out at all.

I think they should have just thrown away the key.

We, The People spend a fortune on that guy every year, because the Secret Service tail and track him while he's in Williamsburg with his elderly parents--and he's there over half of every month. He has not been totally compliant with his monitoring schedule, either--he's violated his probation, as it were.

I resent having to pay for Secret Service to trail after this little asshole, even though I didn't vote for the guy he tried to kill. I just think what he did was wrong on principle--you don't assassinate people. It's not acceptable behavior--and I don't care if your parents are rich, like his are, either. Lock him up. Leave him locked up. You shoot at a POTUS, that's the end of the line--you'll never see daylight save through bars--that's how I think it should work, anyway.

[underpants]

12. So they are still in the 'burg

Didn't read the article.

I worked on a golf course in Wm'burg for a year in 1987 -worked as in cutting grass and raking traps- it was rumored that his parents lived near one of the greens.

[LibertyLover]

14. They live near

Kingsmill Resort, according to a news report I watched last night.

[underpants]

18. Yep

That's where I worked

[LibertyLover]

21. In October, 2012 my department held its

annual retreat at Kingsmill. President Obama had been staying there preparing for one of the debates against McCain and had left like a day before. When the first bunch of us arrived to check in, the front desk was in quite a swivet. It seemed that the Secret Service had not allowed Housekeeping into their rooms during the visit and had basically trashed the rooms. Some of our people were slated to be in those rooms, but they had to be switched because the rooms weren't going to be ready in time for them.

[snooper2]

19. Did you watch the video, he spends a lot of time at his moms home now

even has a drivers license

[underpants]

20. No I didn't

[pauliedangerously]

6. That's Tough...

I was by no means a Reagan fan and I will shamefully admit that I was gleeful when I heard the news of his shooting while changing class in high school; but I don't think people who shoot the President should be allowed to go free. In one way, I think, yeah set him free; he's cured. But, on the other hand, he shot the President of the United States and I don't think the country needs to see people like that getting leniency. If it were anyone other than a President, I might take the other stance.

[yellowcanine]

15. Our legal system said he is Not Guilty. Not guilty by reason of insanity is still not guilty.

The fact that it was a President is irrelevant. Unless we want to go against not only our legal system but also that of nearly all modern societies. I am not willing to do that. So it costs a lot of money to have the Secret Service monitor his movements. That is the cost of a civilized society.

[Turbineguy]

8. Which is ironic,

because that's where Reagan wanted mental hospital patients to live as well.

[MosheFeingold]

17. A lot of the blame belongs with Geraldo Rivera

Geraldo Rivera (real name: Gerald Rivers --- he's a nice Jewish boy like me) found a real problem -- underfunded and understaffed sanatoriums -- and did "Blair Witch Project" style "documentaries" on the admittedly horrid conditions that took a real problem and then sensationalized it. This created a tremendous, and only partially justified, public backlash. In short the baby was thrown out with the bathwater.

This was coupled with an insular Supreme Court that really didn't understand the frailty of mentally ill people, so they made it much harder to commit people that probably should be committed for their own good/public good. (A lot of mentally ill are OK with structure and good meds, but won't remotely be on structure or meds if outside a facility --- add to that predators who will prey on them when "outside" and give them other problems).

Along came Congress (both parties) who pandered to actual voters (mentally ill don't vote) for programs -- but had a finite amount of money -- so they took money from the now wildly-unpopular-and-even-more-expensive public mental health facilities -- and "complied" with the Supreme Court mandate by kicking people onto the street.

Perfect storm of Washington stupidity.

[Hugin]

16. I say, no.

Yeah, he shot Reagan and Reagan recovered.

But, he also shot others, one of them being Brady. Brady died as a direct result of the shooting and lived a really diminished life for the years in between. So, there is still a need to have the perpetrator of this crime isolated from society.