Hinckley release revives Simants concerns

Cynics will find some way to connect the release of the man who tried to killed the Republican Party's icon Ronald Reagan and the Democratic Party's national convention but it's only the latest twist in a process that started 35 years ago.

John W. Hinckley Jr., 61, who shot the president and three others outside the Washington Hilton Hotel on March 30, 1981, no longer poses a danger to himself or others, according to a 103-page court order issued by U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman of Washington.

To be fair, Hinckley had no particular political bent, targeting President Jimmy Carter first before turning to his successor, all in a delusional attempt to impress actress Jody Foster.

Hinckley obsessed over Foster's role as a child prostitute in the 1976 film Taxi Driver, which included a disturbed character, based in part on Arthur Bremer, who tried to kill George Wallace.

He stalked her at Yale University and left notes in an unsuccessful attempt to communicate with her.

There are restrictions on Hinckley's release; he must live with her mother, stay within 50 miles of her home in Williamsburg, Va., inform doctors before going to any private residence, turn over information about his cellphone and vehicle, be barred from social media, uploading content or erasing browser history from his computer, and undergo monthly treatment at a hospital, the route and schedule monitored by the U.S. Secret Service two weeks in advance.

He also will volunteer or work and avoid media interviews, according to the order.

Doctors have concluded Hinckley's major depression and psychotic disorder have been in "full and sustained remission" for more than 20 years and is clinically ready to leave the psychiatric hospital where he has been living.

Some Southwest Nebraska residents may be watching the Hinckley case with alarm; those who remember the case of Erwin Charles Simants, who killed six members of a Sutherland family in 1975 in a grisly murder involving alcohol and rape.

His conviction was overturned because improper contact between law enforcement and jurors and other factors, he was later found innocent because of insanity.

He continues to be confined as dangerous, but family and neighbors fear he could be released should one of his regular reviews find differently.

True mental illness is a legitimate legal defense, but both the Hinckley and Simants cases push the boundaries of justice.