John Hinckley Jr., who tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan by shooting him back in 1981, got some good news on Monday when a federal judge ruled that he can be unrestrictedly released next year.
Fox News reported that Hinckley was committed to St. Elizabeth’s hospital after the assassination attempt for over 34 years until he was released under certain restrictions in 2016.
“If he hadn’t tried to kill a president, he would have been released unconditionally a long time ago,” U.S. District Court Judge Paul Friedman said in his ruling today. “But everybody is comfortable now after all of the studies, all of the analysis and all of the interviews and all of the experience with Mr. Hinckley.”
“I followed the law, I followed the evidence, and I followed the science,” Friedman added, according to CNN. “I’m very comfortable with where we are. I think it’s probably overdue … My caution, with taking incremental steps, should give us all a great deal of comfort that everything is going to be just fine.”
Friedman is the same judge who released Hinckley five years ago, saying that his mental condition was “in full and sustained remission” and had been for more than 27 years. He had previously been diagnosed with a psychotic disorder and major depression.
Hinckley’s restrictive release in 2016 included provisions that he not own a firearm and must live with his mother in Williamsburg, Virginia. He was also banned from contacting Reagan’s children and from contacting the actress Jodie Foster, who he was obsessed with and reportedly tried to kill the then-president to try and impress.
Hinckley will be released with no restrictions in June of 2022, and his lawyer Barry Levine celebrated his client’s release as a “great day for mental health.”
“He has adhered to every requirement of law,” Levine said last month, according to Deadline. “And based on the views of a variety of mental health professionals … he no longer suffers from a mental disease, and he hasn’t suffered from a mental disease for decades.”
Hinckley recently launched his own YouTube page, where he posts videos of himself playing guitar and singing.
“His future, we think, is bright. And I hope others with a good sense of charity would wish him well,” Levine said. “…I would hope people would see this as a victory for mental health. People who have been ravaged by mental disease, with good support and access to treatment, can actually become productive members of society.”
The Reagan family has yet to comment on this situation.
This piece was written by James Samson on September 27, 2021. It originally appeared in RedVoiceMedia.com and is used by permission.
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