How a presidential shooting changed the law on mental illness in America

Senator Dan Quayle claimed the insanity defence ‘pampered criminals’. Senator Strom Thurmond agreed, saying it gave criminals a ‘free ride’. The act of abolishing it should frighten us all, says Ed Prideaux

John Hinckley Jr is held down by police after attempting to kill Ronald Reagan, while shooting victims James Brady and Timothy McCarthy are tended to (Getty)

John Hinckley Jr was 25 on 30 March 1981. It was a big day for him. After a long ennui, things had begun making sense when he first saw Taxi Driver, the 1976 Scorsese film, at a cinema in Hollywood. He watched it over and over. Hinckley saw much of himself in the film’s main character: a traumatised, depressed Vietnam veteran played by Robert De Niro. 

He bought an army jacket to look just like him. He took selfies with guns and played Russian Roulette. Most significantly, Hinckley fell head-over-heels with the film’s teenage co-star, Jodie Foster – no doubt the love of his life, he concluded – but something big was needed to tip the scales. 

“This letter is being written only an hour before I leave for the Hilton Hotel,” he scribbled. “Jodie, I’m asking you to please look into your heart and at least give me the chance, with this historical deed, to gain your respect and love.”