Oh, swell, this will instill faith in the criminal justice system, won't it?
The government mental hospital where John Hinckley Jr. has spent most of the last 30 years since he shot and tried to kill President Ronald Reagan is asking a federal court to allow Hinckley's eventual release to live with or near his aging mother in Williamsburg, Virginia.
The prosecution, in its own filing with the court on Friday, described Hinckley as "a man capable of great violence" and said his mental condition has not improved to the point of eliminating concerns "that this violence may be repeated."
It's things like this that get people cheering and applauding for the death penalty at presidential candidate debates.
"Capable" of great violence? How utterly asinine that somebody has to actually stand up and make the case that, yes, well, he might do it again. As long as people like Hinckley are still above ground, there is the possiblity some chucklehead with more degrees than sense will try to get them released, sometimes succeeding.
