At the presentation of The Honorable Charles R. Richey Equal Justice Award from George Washington University Law School, ALI Secretary Paul L. Friedman joined GW professors Alan Morrison and Stephen Saltzburg on stage to share stories about his career, including reflecting on the decision to free John Hinckley.
He told the audience that when he allowed John Hinckley Jr. to take trips out of the hospital with his parents, “the hate mail he received was serious enough that he and his wife briefly got extra protection from the U.S. Marshals Service.”
His more recent decision (in July 2016) to allow Hinckley to live full-time out of the hospital didn’t receive as much negative feedback as he expected. "Thirty-four years after the event, any other patient at Saint Elizabeths Hospital, except one who tried to kill a president, would have been out a long time ago," said Judge Friedman
In addition to addressing Hinckley, he talked about several career highlights, including when he was assigned to research whether a sitting president could be indicted.
Judge Friedman was elected to ALI in 1984 and has served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia since 1994. He previously worked as Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States and Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Read the full story at The National Law Journal (subscription required).