Moving a judge is only a short-term fix for how courts handle domestic violence

Days into the New Year, the red flags were waving wildly when Constantin Beldie allegedly dragged his estranged wife into a bathroom, where he punched, slapped and kicked her, while telling her he could easily kill her.

It wasn't an empty threat. Beldie fatally stabbed 54-year-old Lacramioara Beldie on Tuesday, then was found dead in a car a block away from the scene in Portage Park, according to police. An off-duty detective was grazed and wounded by a bullet when he tried to intervene.

Constantin Beldie's alleged actions prior to his wife's tragic murder were clear signs that he was a danger to himself and others.

The risk of a woman being murdered is increased when strangulation by an intimate partner has already occurred, studies have shown. The research, and Constantin Beldie's previous behavior, should have been enough to keep him locked up, as Cook County prosecutors requested last month after he was accused of choking and attempting to kidnap his wife in an Oct. 9 attack.

But Judge Thomas E. Nowinski instead released the 57-year-old man on electronic monitoring, barring him from access to weapons and Lacramioara Beldie's residence and workplace. That wasn't nearly enough.

Nowinski is the same judge who previously declined to authorize an emergency order of protection against Crosetti Brand, the convicted felon who is charged with stabbing his pregnant ex-girlfriend and killing her 11-year-old son in March.

On Wednesday, The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence called on Chief Cook County Judge Timothy Evans to reassign Nowinski because of his questionable rulings and the resulting murders. Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza demanded that the "incompetent" Nowinski face even more serious consequences, suggesting he "should not be on the bench."

The outrage is entirely understandable. It's not hard to believe that if Constantin Beldie had previously assaulted and threatened a co-worker or neighbor, a judge might have taken those actions more seriously and agreed with prosecutors that he should be kept in custody. Evans should consider reassignment or some other steps.

‘A shift in attitude’

But moving a judge, demoting Nowinski or snatching away his judicial robe, at most, would be a bandage to a larger problem: A criminal justice system that doesn't take domestic violence seriously enough, says Vickie Smith, the former CEO and president of the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who now works as a consultant for the organization.

For substantial changes to take place, and for domestic violence survivors to say safe, there has to be an overall shift in culture and attitude.

To help do that, judges and other court workers and law enforcement officials should be required to undergo domestic violence training, Smith told us. We agree.

Another crucial step: For state lawmakers to approve Karina’s Bill, which would require a judge, when issuing an order of protection, to also issue a search-and-seizure warrant for firearms if there is probable cause the person has access to them and poses a danger to others.

Nowinski likely wasn't "malicious" when he weighed in on the two cases, Smith says. He may understand the law, like many judges, but he may not fully comprehend the dangers involved with domestic violence.

Emergency orders of protections, which Lacramioara Beldie was granted in October and January, "were created to be the mechanism to jump-start the various parts of the justice system that are meant to protect us," Smith argued in 2022. "The reality ... is that the mechanism rarely goes beyond asking for a court order."

Domestic violence deaths rose by 110% in Illinois last year. As 2024 comes to a close, the bleak headlines aren't much more encouraging.

Lacramioara Beldie wasn't the only woman killed in a domestic incident in the Chicago area in recent days. Last weekend, police say renowned endocrinologist Olga Duchon was beaten with a bat and then shot to death by her estranged boyfriend in Barrington. He is now charged with her murder.

And just a month ago, 41-year-old Maria Lazaro-Castillo was allegedly shot to death by her ex-boyfriend while sitting in a car in McKinley Park.

How many victims would still be alive if their attempts to stay safe were taken more seriously?

The trauma of domestic violence survivors is raw and complex. If judges don't recognize the lengths to which abusers will go in order to assert their control, the risk of things turning deadly will only increase.

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