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Would-Be Reagan Assassin John Hinckley to be Freed

posted by n1 on Wednesday July 27 2016, @10:19PM   Printer-friendly

takyon writes:

John Hinckley Jr, the man who tried to assassinate US President Ronald Reagan, is to be released from a psychiatric hospital next month after 35 years.

Mr Reagan and three others were injured in the shooting outside a hotel in Washington in March 1981.

Mr Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity but was sent for treatment to a Washington hospital.

Source: BBC News

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hinckley_Jr.

https://twitter.com/NPR/status/758283971092443136

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:10AM

    by Beryllium Sphere (r) (5062) on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:10AM (#380996)

    Insanity defenses are a lot harder to use than many people believe.

    Lawyer and blogger Ken White suggests "I doubt 35 years of forced treatment and confinement is the sort of lenity that leads anyone to violence".

    https://www.scribd.com/document/319454730/Hinkley-Order [scribd.com] has the judge's full reasoning.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:45PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:45PM (#381179)
    If you're sane and are facing a charge of attempted murder you'd have to be crazy to plead insanity ;). This guy got 35 years! Whereas if you had a clean record before and you pleaded guilty to attempted murder, behaved well in court and prison they might let you out way before 35 years had passed.

    And it makes sense. It's the crazy ones, the serial killers or mass murderers you'd be worried about.

    The other murderers who kill just one person they hate, rarely kill again even when they get out. Especially the ones with a zero track record of violence to others. They only wanted to kill one person in the world and they've done that and it's likely they won't want to kill again.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:12PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:12PM (#381193)

      He got 35 years because the President was one of the victims. I doubt he would have got that long if it was you that took the bullet.