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General discussion

Will Hinkley be turned loose?

Nov 17, 2003 5:21AM PST
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An attorney for failed presidential assassin John Hinckley Jr. told a federal judge Monday his client "is probably the least dangerous person on the planet" and should be allowed unsupervised visits with his parents at their Virginia home.

In 1982, a jury found Hinckley not guilty by reason of insanity. He has been institutionalized at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington ever since.

In court documents, federal prosecutors said, "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."

Hinckley's lawyers want the court to permit five day trips to the home of his parents, Jack and Jo Ann Hinckley, in Williamsburg, Virginia, which is outside the Washington metropolitan area. They also have requested five overnight visits at their home.


http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/11/17/hinckley.hearing/index.html

Angeline
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

Discussion is locked

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If he is no longer insane, then shouldn't he now go to prison for his crime?? (NT)
Nov 17, 2003 6:52AM PST

.

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According to what I heard ....
Nov 17, 2003 7:22AM PST

... he was "not guilty" by reason of insanity.

I sure don't know the ends and outs of these sorts of verdicts, so I don't know if there is any way to send him to prison. Sad

Angeline
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

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Re:According to what I heard ....
Nov 17, 2003 9:49AM PST

I've read in the past arguments that the not guilty by reason of insanity should be changed to guilty but insane.

And then the confinement in a mental institution should at a minimum time equal the normal jail sentence. Not having the patient declared cured 3 months later and released when if guilty he would have received 3 to 20 years of incarceration.

Perhaps somewhere between is appropriate. If the review panel of doctors feel someone is "safe" to release into society, they should be helped to find a job but required to report back to a controlled enviroment center for a specified length of time. Time from original trail verdict until such a "work plan" to not be less than the normal required period for parole review for the crime committed. Time until a release to live on his own to be comparable to the average jail time for the crime committed.

roger

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Re:According to what I heard ....
Nov 17, 2003 9:38PM PST

I understand that these parents love their son and want him free but I always think of the saying "there is only one beautiful baby in the world and every mother has it." Are they ready to take responsibility for what happens in the future? And I don't mean financially? And I know of many cases that have not turned out well. Are the mental health people prepared to deal with what might happen?

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Re:Will Hinkley be turned loose?
Nov 17, 2003 7:16AM PST

Hi Angeline,

I'll bet Jodie Foster hopes he's not turned loose. It sure seems like he should not be free.

Paula

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I agree, Paula, on both points!
Nov 17, 2003 9:42AM PST

.

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I'd wager no, Angeline...
Nov 17, 2003 10:31PM PST

Angeline, I'd wager that he will not. Nothing official, but I once heard it said that someone who had attempted to assassinate a President would never be allowed to be free on the streets as long as their "target" was still alive. But who knows, times change.