John Hinckley, Jr, Released Unconditionally

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

John W. Hinckley, Jr, a white son of wealth and privilege, earned his bit of fame back on March 30th, 1981, when he opened fire on President Ronald Reagan and his party as they were leaving a union gathering at a Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC.  Hinckley, firing six shots from a .22 caliber revolver, managed to wound four people including the President of the United States (who was actually hit in the chest by a bullet that deflected off of his highly armored limousine), the President's press secretary, a secret service agent, and a police officer.

Reagan and the two men with badges eventually recovered, and Reagan went on to spend eight full years in the White House (1981-1989), but Press Secretary James Brady was not so fortunate.  Brady, who was struck on the right side of his head, remained paralyzed on the left side of his body for the remainder of his life.  He did use his remaining years to become one of the nation's most recognized anti-gun advocates.  When Brady died in 2014, his cause of death was listed as "homicide," referring back to the shooting in 1981 which had permanently incapacitated him.

That shooting in 1981 left many law-and-order Republicans in a tough spot.  While they were always quick to recommend maximum sentences for the "others" in society, this shooting of an American icon had been committed by one of their own - an exceedingly rich and very white young man whose father was an oil company executive who was well known in Republican circles.  Daddy and Mommy rushed to their son's defense, as many good parents would do, but they had the means to make things happen.  They came in with a team of the best lawyers, entered an insanity plea, and stood by solemnly as their son was eventually pronounced "not guilty" by reason of insanity.

Because of that egregious show of wealth and privilege, the federal government eventually tightened requirements for an insanity defense, and so did several states - and the defense of insanity was eliminated entirely in Utah, Idaho, and Montana.

And John Hinckley, Jr, did have obvious mental issues, though some, myself included, would argue that anyone who fires a gun in public with the aim of harming or killing others is to some degree mentally unstable.  Hinckley was fixated on the actress, Jodie Foster, following her film debut as a child sex-trafficking victim in the movie "Taxi Driver."  When Miss Foster enrolled in Yale University in 1980, she soon learned that she had an admirer who was stalking her.  Hinckley managed to visit with Foster a couple of times on the phone, and he slipped several written communications under the front door of her university residence.

But Jodie Foster was basically ignoring the love-struck twenty-five-year-old Hinckley, so he decided to up his game.  Shooting the President of the United States would be a sure way to get her attention - and on March 30th, 1981, he did just that - an act that he later described as "the greatest love-offering in the history of the world!"

So yeah, John Hinckley, Jr, was nuts - and he had parents who had the money and the ability to prove it.

Hinckley was assigned to to a lockdown ward of St. Elizabeth's hospital in Washington, DC.   While he was there he corresponded with serial killer Ted Bundy and received at least one letter from Lynette Squeaky Fromme, the woman who took a wild shot at Gerald Ford.

Hinckley also gave a famous interview to Penthouse magazine during the early years of his stay in which he reported that on a "typical" day at St. Elizabeth's: 

"I see a therapist, answer mail, play my guitar, listen to music, play pool, watch television, eat lousy food, and take delicious medication."

Hinckley's parents moved to a gated community near Williamsburg, Virginia, in order to be close to their son, and in 1999 he began being allowed to take escorted visits to their home.  Those visits soon began expanding in duration.  After his father died a few years ago, Hinckley was allowed to live permanently with his agoraphobic mother, but still under court and medical supervision.  His mother died last year and Hinckley, now sixty-six, has recently moved out of her house.

He has reportedly issued apologies to all of his surviving victims, including Jodie Foster, and is ready to get on with what is left of his life.  (It has not been reported whether he telephoned his apology to Miss Foster, sent her a letter, or slid a note under her front door.)

And I, for one, think that after all of this time John Hinckley, Jr, should be allowed to get on with what's left of his life, but I will always regard it as a shame that our country continues to rely on two systems of justice - one for wealthy white individuals, and another for everyone else.