Judge Paul Friedman made a comment on five days of hearings to determine if the man who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981 has grown considerably in treatment for a full time living with his mother finally in Williamsburg, Virginia. Hinckley is currently in a mental hospital in Washington. Doctors at St. Elizabeth has proposed setting up again, from leaving the outplacement 10 days to 24 days, the Government objected to.
"I've got a responsibility here under the law" to sign on to visit outside of St. Elizabeth, said Friedman. "I am very reluctant to give away that responsibility until I see how the next phase occurs."
The hospital is required to regularly submit reports to the judge, outlines the movement and activities of Hinckley when he was in Williamsburg. Changes in the outside-of-hospital Hinckley's current visit must be approved by Friedman, after the General Assembly can take months to organize, and the last week or so. The main issue is whether they are hospital staff should have discretionary authority that unilateral during the visit, which is the case for a lot of mental patients.