Post by hunt4fun1 on Nov 17, 2003 10:47:12 GMT -5
Hinckley seeks unsupervised trips
Judge hearing request by Reagan’s attacker to visit parents
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 — The man who tried to assassinate President Reagan on Monday was trying to persuade a federal judge to allow him to visit his parents without being accompanied by staff from the psychiatric hospital where he has lived for more than two decades.
‘Maybe if John Hinckley isn’t insane any more he needs to just go to prison and there he can reflect for a while on what he did.’
— RON REAGAN JR.
JOHN HINCKLEY Jr. has asked U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman to let him leave unescorted from St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington and travel three hours away to the Williamsburg, Va., area to see his parents 10 times. Five of the trips would be overnight visits.
Friedman scheduled a hearing for Monday.
Hinckley, 48, has been a patient at St. Elizabeths since his acquittal by reason of insanity in the shooting of Reagan and three others outside a Washington hotel in March 1981. Hinckley said he shot the president to impress actress Jodie Foster.
Hospital officials have said Hinckley’s mental health has shown significant improvement and he should be allowed to make unsupervised visits, though they said there should be only two trips initially. Others could follow if the first two go well.
Reagan’s family and the government oppose the idea. In a recent filing, prosecutors wrote: “No one knows what Mr. Hinckley is thinking. He has boasted that he can fool medical experts and he continually has been proven deceptive about important matters throughout the years of his hospitalization.”
In an interview broadcast Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Reagan’s son, Ron Reagan Jr., said the would-be assassin now wants a “free pass” for his actions.
“Maybe if John Hinckley isn’t insane any more he needs to just go to prison and there he can reflect for a while on what he did,” the former president’s son said.
Hinckley sought similar privileges three years ago, but U.S. District Judge June Green canceled a hearing after prosecutors said he had a “continued interest in violently themed books and music.”
Under a 1999 federal appeals court ruling, Hinckley has been able to take supervised day trips off hospital grounds. The Secret Service, which is responsible for the security of current and former presidents, is notified whenever Hinckley leaves St. Elizabeths.
Judge hearing request by Reagan’s attacker to visit parents
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 — The man who tried to assassinate President Reagan on Monday was trying to persuade a federal judge to allow him to visit his parents without being accompanied by staff from the psychiatric hospital where he has lived for more than two decades.
‘Maybe if John Hinckley isn’t insane any more he needs to just go to prison and there he can reflect for a while on what he did.’
— RON REAGAN JR.
JOHN HINCKLEY Jr. has asked U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman to let him leave unescorted from St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington and travel three hours away to the Williamsburg, Va., area to see his parents 10 times. Five of the trips would be overnight visits.
Friedman scheduled a hearing for Monday.
Hinckley, 48, has been a patient at St. Elizabeths since his acquittal by reason of insanity in the shooting of Reagan and three others outside a Washington hotel in March 1981. Hinckley said he shot the president to impress actress Jodie Foster.
Hospital officials have said Hinckley’s mental health has shown significant improvement and he should be allowed to make unsupervised visits, though they said there should be only two trips initially. Others could follow if the first two go well.
Reagan’s family and the government oppose the idea. In a recent filing, prosecutors wrote: “No one knows what Mr. Hinckley is thinking. He has boasted that he can fool medical experts and he continually has been proven deceptive about important matters throughout the years of his hospitalization.”
In an interview broadcast Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Reagan’s son, Ron Reagan Jr., said the would-be assassin now wants a “free pass” for his actions.
“Maybe if John Hinckley isn’t insane any more he needs to just go to prison and there he can reflect for a while on what he did,” the former president’s son said.
Hinckley sought similar privileges three years ago, but U.S. District Judge June Green canceled a hearing after prosecutors said he had a “continued interest in violently themed books and music.”
Under a 1999 federal appeals court ruling, Hinckley has been able to take supervised day trips off hospital grounds. The Secret Service, which is responsible for the security of current and former presidents, is notified whenever Hinckley leaves St. Elizabeths.
What a crock. This guy should never be allowed to roam the streets unsupervised. Letting him out would be a disaster.