Doctors: Reagan shooter is recovering, not a danger

[alp227]

Washington (CNN) -- After almost 30 years in a mental hospital, John W. Hinckley Jr., the college dropout who tried to kill President Ronald Reagan, is moving closer to the day his doctors may recommend he go free.

According to court records, a forensic psychologist at the hospital has testified that "Hinckley has recovered to the point that he poses no imminent risk of danger to himself or others."

That concerns former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova, who helped oversee Hinckley's prosecution in 1982. He told CNN, "I think John Hinckley will be a threat the rest of his life. He is a time bomb."

Hinckley is now 55. Over government objections in 2009, a judge extended his furlough privileges at the home of his aging mother in Williamsburg, Virginia, to a dozen visits of 10 days each during the past year and a half. Any time he is away from his mother's home, Hinckley is required to carry a GPS-equipped cell phone for tracking purposes. And by court order, he is forbidden to talk to any media.

Full story: http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/26/hinckley.today/index.html

Hinckley shot Reagan on March 30, 1981...it's been almost 30 years since a president was shot.

[SoCalDem]

1. I don;t care about him at all..keep him..let him go.. Reagan's dead

and this guy's just a kunckle-headed nebbish who thought he could be famous..he is famous, but probably no one cares what happens to him anymore..

I worry a lot more about some yet-unknown nutso who's being "inspired" by the likes of Palin, Gingrich, Huckleberry, Limbaugh, Beck, etc..a guy who may someday try something extreme..

[Kurmudgeon]

3. Agreed, I'm more worried about current right wing loonies, they aren't in it for an actress. n/m

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. +1

[Whisp]

8. but Bush Sr. isn't.

let some thought on that

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

13. Hmmmm Bush Hinkley connection

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2909786

[stockholmer]

26. music to waltz to...The Crucifucks - Hinkley Had A Vision

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rMXtUSuDK8

about as hardcore as punk got, from 1984

[ProgressiveProfessor]

12. Do you feel the samw way about Sirhan Sirhan?

Not a poke, but curious. He failed to win release yet again recently.

[anneboleyn]

27. Yes, or Mark Chapman, who also lost his parole bid recently. They are all dangers.

They tried to kill (and did of course succeed in killing in the latter two cases) very famous persons BECAUSE they were famous, and because these figures were authority figures (particularly with the president/presidential candidate of course, slightly less so with Lennon, though of course he was a political figure in addition to his fame as a musician). They had insane fantasies about how these famous people had personal impacts on their lives, and they will likely engage in some type of attention-getting behavior again after release.

[kudzu22]

18. But Obama's still alive

and so is Jodie Foster.

[Hannah Bell]

2. great-grandpa

http://books.google.com/books?id=RLo1AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1005&lpg=PA1005&dq=%22francis+e+hinckley%22&source=web&ots=nzpZRBjfBE&sig=YBG0opIXsONqunWOVuSrq2LpSU8&hl=en#v=onepage&q=%22francis%20e%20hinckley%22&f=false

http://dig.lib.niu.edu/ISHS/ishs-1954winter/ishs-1954winter-361.pdf

[JohnnyRingo]

4. I know he was ill, and incarceration doesn't deter future cases, but

I feel attempting to depose our president transcends standard sentencing. In the military, the penalties I believe are firm, and when a killer takes the life or attempts to kill a law enforcement officer, they get handed down a much stiffer penalty. It matter's little if the offense was under duress or mental incapacity, the criminal faces the fullest wrath of the justice system. Parole is rare if not inexistent. The theory is that if they'd kill an officer, no one is safe from that kind of murderer. Attemting to overthrow the Executive Branch should be much more serious.

Frankly, I'm guessing his well connected family was instrumental in his reformation and return to society... in more ways than one.

[Hannah Bell]

11. he's been taking leaves for years already. squeaky fromme did 34 years.

sarah jane moore did 32.

francisco duran is currently doing 40 for firing at the clinton white house from the fence.

[JohnnyRingo]

23. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, and I know his family didn't put him up to it...

but I'll always be suspicious that Hinckley's "recovery" and reintegration into society was politically expedited:
http://www.rense.com/general45/hink.htm

I understand that Fromme and others have received similar treatment under law, but Hinckley's bullets connected. It's a matter of intent vs successful execution of the crime

[Raine]

5. Anyone who comes that close to killing a president

should never go free IMO.

[aquart]

6. We agree on this.

It's a no-no.

[Spider Jerusalem]

9. What makes that any different to anyone who comes that close to killing anyone else?

Consistency of principle is an important thing; either there are or aren't circumstances that would call for the eventual release of someone who committed or attempted to commit murder whilst in the grip of mental illness. Whether it's a president or not is irrelevant to the larger point; that the crime was committed while the person was mentally disturbed, and that some degree of rehabilitation is the point of imprisonment (in a high-security mental facility in this case).

[datasuspect]

10. well it's like my father and his circle of union thug friends said at the time:

"they should give the motherfucker a goddamn medal."

[Zax2me]

14. They said that at the time?

How...nice.

[CTyankee]

15. I heard an interview with Jim and Sarah Brady on NPR yesterday and THEY are afraid

that if Hinkley goes free he will stalk them. They sound genuinely scared even tho they have federal protective services.

That convinced me that if they have good reason to believe that he will harm them, then he should remain incarcerated...

[virginia mountainman]

16. Sara Brady, should buy a gun, and get a CCW permit to protect herself and Jim,

After all, the state has NO responsibility to provide security..

O wait ?!?!...

[CTyankee]

19. Why don't you email or write her with your suggestion...

I'm sure she'd be delighted to hear from you.

[virginia mountainman]

24. Naw, she has placed her faith in gun control..

Much of which she pushed and supported...

[CTyankee]

25. Quelle honte! Quelle tragédie pour James et Sara! Que peut-on faire?

pas de text...

[anneboleyn]

28. En anglais, s'il vous plait. Merci beaucoup.

[CTyankee]

29. dupe. delete.

[CTyankee]

31. What a shame. What a tragedy for James and Sara. What can be done?

[FLPanhandle]

17. Say what you want about this country...

In many countries in this world, you shoot the leader and you are executed. There are very few places in the world where you can take a shot at the leader and be walking around on furlough later.

[madokie]

20. Guess who was having dinner with the vice the night before this happened

the father and mother of john hinckley

[TheKentuckian]

21. It would seem many believe psychology to essentially be pseudo science with no real possibility

of success.

Much like correctional rehabilitation, when push comes to shove the concepts are literally scoffed at.

[Moondog]

22. I find the psychologist's usage of the word "imminent" to be disturbing.

An out so large one could drive the proverbial truck through it.

[kskiska]

30. Jodie Foster might be concerned n/t