HinckleyJohnWASHINTON (AP)     President Ronald Reagan’s daughter is criticizing a judge’s decision to allow the release of John Hinckley Jr. from the psychiatric hospital where he’s been confined for more than 35 years after he tried to assassinate Reagan.

Patti Davis says in a lengthy statement on her website that she will “forever be haunted” by the day her father almost died in 1981.

Davis says she believes in forgiveness. But she says forgiving someone doesn’t mean letting them “loose in Virginia to pursue whatever dark agendas they may still hold dear.”

Davis also says she’s not surprised by the decision, but says her “heart is sickened.”

Judge Paul Friedman ruled Wednesday that Hinckley is no longer a danger and can live full-time with his mother in Virginia.

Friedman ruled  that  Hinckley will have to attend individual and group therapy sessions and is barred from talking to the media. He can drive, but there are restrictions on how far he can travel. The Secret Service also periodically follows him.

Hinckley will be required return to Washington once a month for doctors to check on his mental state and his compliance with the conditions of his leave. He’ll also be barred from trying to contact surviving victims and their families, along with actress Jodie Foster, whom he was trying to impress when he shot the president.

A former Secret Service agent who took  Hinckley into custody after Hinckley shot President Ronald Reagan says a court’s decision to allow the man to live full time in the community is disappointing.

Danny Spriggs, who now works for The Associated Press, called the shooting the most “horrific incident” of his career. Spriggs said he believes Hinckley should remain under close scrutiny in a mental institution.