Free Republic

<p>August 27, 2003 -- RONALD Reagan's would-be assassin, John Hinckley Jr., is seeking greater freedom, but the former president's daughter, Patti Davis, hopes he rots in the psycho ward. Responding to the news that Hinckley wants to be allowed unsupervised furloughs from his hospital, Davis told PAGE SIX: "In the late '80s - when they were trying to get him out on supervised visits - it was discovered that he was pen pals with [serial killer] Ted Bundy and Charles Manson." Shockingly, Hinckley - who shot Reagan, crippled James Brady and killed a Secret Service agent in 1981 to impress a young Jodie Foster - has been allowed to make supervised visits to friends and family since 1999. Davis thinks his latest request is part of a plan to win his eventual release. She asked: "Is there some valuable part of John Hinckley that society is missing out on?" Davis has written an opinion piece for newsweek.com that further expresses her feelings.</p>

<p>John Hinckley Wants Out His lawyers say the man who shot Ronald Reagan needs more freedom in order to get well. The president’s daughter says ‘who cares?’</p> <p>Aug. 26 — Since 1999, John Hinckley, the man who shot my father, has been walking off the grounds of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital accompanied by a member of the hospital staff. These “supervised day trips” have included visits to shopping malls, book stores and bowling alleys, as well as meals with his family. The U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia has gone to court numerous times trying to convince judges that Hinckley should not be wandering around the nation’s capital even with a hospital attendant accompanying him, but they have not succeeded. The supervised day trips have continued.</p>

Davis Ruminates About Childhood in Essay Mon Jun 9, 6:52 AM ET By The Associated Press NEW YORK - Patti Davis, daughter of former President Ronald Reagan, ruminates on her years as a petulant child — and how she's come to appreciate her father's guidance as she's grown older — in a Father's Day essay for Newsweek. In a home movie showing her as an 11-year-old, Davis writes, "my petulance is obvious as I shrug myself away from my mother's outstretched arm — asserting my will, brandishing my independence." What wasn't filmed during those years, she writes, was "my father's...