by Matthew Kauffman ‘23

Forty years ago, he was the most notorious man in America but today most teens couldn’t tell you who he was if you said his name. John Hinckley, the man who shot former President Ronald Reagan and three others on March 30, 1981, was recently approved for unconditional release from a mental hospital. The ruling made by a federal judge will take effect next year. He was 25 when he shot Reagan, and is now 66 years old.

Hinckley reportedly attempted the assassination in order to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he had an obsessive fixation. In addition to hitting Reagan, he also shot police officer Thomas Delahanty, Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy, and White House staff member James Brady. Brady was critically wounded in the assault after being shot in the head, and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair until he died in 2014 from complications from his injury.

Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982, to the dismay of many Americans. An ABC News poll taken following the verdict showed that 83 percent of those polled thought “justice was not done.” This ruling led to calls to end increasingly liberalized punishment for the mentally ill during this time period, and ended up being a watershed moment for mentally ill criminals. 

The alternative to Hinckley’s admittance to a mental hospital post-trial would have been the death penalty, which is punishment for conspiracy or an attempt to murder the President. Instead, Hinckley went to St. Elizabeth’s, where he resided for more than 30 years. Starting in 2003, the restrictions on Hinckley were loosened, and he was slowly let back into society with supervision after being ordered to stay away from Foster and President Reagan’s family. 

In an article written following the Hinckley release, Ronald Reagan’s son expressed his forgiveness to Hinckley, following in his father’s footsteps. “What was good enough for my father is good enough for me,” Michael Reagan stated. He also went to great lengths to describe his father’s upbeat demeanor following the attack, who casually informed his wife that he simply “forgot to duck” and instructed his son to not get shot in a new suit.

This decision is far from a shocking turn of events in the Hinckley case. In 2016, he was allowed back into society and went to live with his mother in Virginia, and has even released music on his YouTube channel where he plays guitar and sings. Hinckley has reportedly been in stable condition and poses “low risk for future violence,” according to a report released by the Department of Behavioral Health. He has reportedly not posed a threat to society since his admittance to Saint Elizabeth’s, and remains a positive example of how mentally ill criminals can be rehabilitated back into society.

Despite both this and Reagan’s public forgiveness of Hinckley, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute expressed its disapproval of the release. “Our hope is that the Justice Department will file a motion with the court leading to a reversal of this decision,” a statement said.