Protecting John Hinckley’s Right to Talk to Barbara Walters

Of all the things that John Hinckley has been accused of--and shooting the President tops the list--none is worse than what he was accused of last week.

“He sees himself as a famous person,” Raymond F. Patterson, a forensic psychiatrist, told a federal judge.

Hinckley, who shot President Reagan and three others in March, 1981, has petitioned a federal court to let him talk to reporters. But his psychiatrists are opposing it.

Hinckley was confined indefinitely to a mental hospital in Washington in 1982. But many reporters, including Barbara Walters, want to interview him.

His doctors don’t like the idea. They say Hinckley is sick and should not give interviews. They say one of Hinckley’s mental problems is that he has a grandiose view of himself.

But let’s be fair. If Barbara Walters was trying to interview you, wouldn’t that automatically give you a “grandiose” view of yourself?

Walters does not interview chopped liver. She only interviews the greats: Sly Stallone, Christie Brinkley, Joan Collins. We are talking box office here.

And if Hinckley “sees himself as a famous person,” well, who wouldn’t in his circumstances?

Take any big criminal. Take any real scuzball. Take Willie Horton. Please. Yes, I know he was shamelessly used by the Bush campaign last year, but that doesn’t mean Horton should be an object of sympathy. He is a murderer, a rapist, a kidnaper and a torturer.

He also gives interviews. You can call him up on the telephone or go see him at the Maryland State Penitentiary in Baltimore. He is a monstrous little thug and reporters are lining up to tell his story.

You think that doesn’t make Horton feel “grandiose” and “famous”? But no court prevents Horton from giving interviews.

Now take Charles Manson. Evil incarnate. Convicted of seven first-degree murders in California. Condemned to life in prison. But he has been on TV so much, I am convinced he might soon fill in for Johnny Carson.

I can’t remember what show I last saw Manson on, but it was only a few weeks ago and Manson sang a song during the interview. Can a Charlie Manson rock video be far away?

Then there is John Wayne Gacy, America’s No. 1 mass murderer. Gacy killed 33 young men and boys and buried 29 of them beneath the floorboards of his home. He was sentenced to death in 1980.

But I had no trouble interviewing Gacy. That’s right. I am not holier-than-thou. I got a chance to interview the slug and I took it.

No court stopped me. No judge said I couldn’t interview this terrible criminal.

And John Hinckley is not even a criminal. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity, remember? As soon as he is cured, he must be released. But even though this is the law, it is very controversial.

In December, 1986, Hinckley was granted a 12-hour escorted leave from St. Elizabeths Hospital. This was part of his cure. But when the Secret Service was notified, they went bonkers.

But the doctors let Hinckley out anyway and he spent the day with his family in Reston, Va. President Reagan was in California at the time.

This caused a huge amount of bad publicity, however. And St. Elizabeths is federally funded.

So last year, when the Secret Service discovered Hinckley had requested a nude drawing of actress Jodie Foster from a mail-order firm, Hinckley was locked up in the hospital’s maximum security ward, where he remains. Hinckley had said at the time of his arrest he had shot Reagan to impress Foster.

But Hinckley now says he wants to talk to reporters so that he can demonstrate that is his not a “sick, depressed, psychotic” person. His lawyer says: “We’re not asking for the Congressional Medal of Honor for Mr. Hinckley. All we’re doing is trying to avail him of his First Amendment rights.”

In other words, Hinckley wants the same rights that mass murderers and famous rapists get.

His doctors say Hinckley is “severely mentally ill” and suffering from a “narcissistic personality disorder.” And, therefore, should not be allowed to talk to the press.

A psychiatrist whom I regularly use as a source told me a narcissistic personality disorder means “a person not only has a completely exalted view of himself, but lacks empathy for anyone else and uses people for his own means.”

I ask you: Does that best describe John Hinckley? Or does that best describe the reporters who want to interview him?

Ha-ha. Just kidding.

I do admit to a certain fondness for the First Amendment, however. And for this reason I think Hinckley should be allowed to see reporters.

Besides, I really want to see him interviewed by Barbara Walters.

I’m dying to find out what kind of tree he would like to be.