An Illinois judge found Corie Walsh too dangerous to release after prosecutors alleged the Frankfort mother posed a threat to her husband and three surviving children after she was charged with murdering her 2-year-old son, Barrett.
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she → find → son
But forensic psychiatrists say "dangerousness" is not a permanent label.
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dangerousness → say → ?
Instead, it is a forward-looking assessment that can change as a person's mental condition improves through treatment.
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condition → look → treatment
Walsh, 40, remains held without pretrial release after a Will County judge denied her request to leave custody during a detention hearing earlier this month.
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judge → hold → hearing
The judge also ordered that Walsh immediately receive psychiatric medication after her attorneys said she had gone days without treatment despite a hospital recommendation that she receive around-the-clock psychiatric care.
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she → order → care
Prosecutors argued Walsh should remain behind bars because, beyond the allegations surrounding Barrett's death, she allegedly threatened to kill her husband after her arrest.
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she → argue → arrest
The judge agreed, finding Walsh posed too great a danger to release before trial.
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Walsh → agree → trial
The ruling raised a broader question that extends beyond Walsh's case: What does it actually mean when a judge determines someone is too dangerous to release?
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someone → raise → What
Under Illinois law, judges deciding whether a defendant should remain jailed before trial evaluate the person's current risk to others rather than punish past conduct.
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defendant → decide → conduct
Dr. Stephen Dinwiddie, a professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University with four decades of forensic psychiatry experience, said psychiatrists approach dangerousness the same way – as a forward-looking assessment rather than a permanent label.
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psychiatrists → say → assessment
"Obviously we're talking more about what we're afraid they're going to do tomorrow," he said.
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he → talk → what
"Part of that prediction is based on what they did yesterday ... what they did in the past ... and what they have said they intend to do.
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they → base → what
Unlike a criminal verdict, which looks backward at what allegedly happened, dangerousness is designed to evaluate the risk a person may pose going forward, Dinwiddie said.
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Dinwiddie → look → risk
"It's pretty squishy," he said.
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he → say → ?
In civil commitment proceedings, judges often decide whether someone should receive treatment over their objections because they present a short-term danger to themselves or others.
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they → decide → themselves
Dinwiddie said the rationale is simple: "If we don't act, something bad is going to happen within a matter of days, if not sooner."
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something → say → days
Dinwiddie said treatment can dramatically change how psychiatrists evaluate a person's future risk.
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psychiatrists → say → risk
"If they've behaved in a violent fashion while ill in the past and now they're ill, obviously that's important information and obviously that's something to worry about," he said.
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he → behave → past
"The intervention obviously is to try to get at that particular symptom of illness and get it under control.
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it → try → control
That can have legal significance because Illinois judges may reconsider detention if circumstances materially change, although any decision to release a defendant before trial remains up to the court.
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decision → have → court
That does not mean Walsh will be released before trial.
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Walsh → mean → trial
It means a judge's dangerousness finding is not necessarily permanent.
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finding → mean → ?
"I think most of us believe that our interventions can prevent tragedies," Dinwiddie said.
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Dinwiddie → think → tragedies
He cautioned that psychosis alone does not make someone dangerous.
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someone → caution → ?
"I think one misconception is they're just different.
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they → think → ?
They're not like us," Dinwiddie said.
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Dinwiddie → say → us
"The tragic fact is they are like us and severe mental illness can affect family members.
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illness → affect → members
It can affect anybody."
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It → affect → anybody
Another common misconception, he said, is that people experiencing psychosis cannot think logically.
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people → say → psychosis
"Within that delusional system, people can act in a very organized, very logical, very purposeful way," he said.
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he → act → way
He described that concept as "rationality within irrationality," explaining that someone can carry out a series of organized actions while acting on profoundly delusional beliefs.
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someone → describe → beliefs
Dinwiddie also emphasized that psychosis is not a matter of choice.
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psychosis → emphasize → choice
"The fact that somebody has evidence of a psychotic process ... that is not a matter of choice," he said.
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he → say → choice
"Nobody would wish that upon themselves."
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Nobody → wish → themselves
Walsh is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in Barrett's death.
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Walsh → charge → death
Prosecutors allege she believed the toddler was the devil and also threatened to kill her husband and the couple's three surviving children after her arrest.
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toddler → allege → arrest
Walsh has not entered a plea, and the case remains pending.
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case → enter → plea
The Aporia
