REL GENRL Local (Palmer Alaska) High School Principle on Medical/Mental hold for religious beliefs - “Mistake” cops say, post 18.

Blacknarwhal

Let's Go Brandon!
This is a time where I would counsel perspicacity and DEEP consideration as to HOW one walks with the Lord. Christ-like forgiveness is one thing which need NOT interfere with EARTHLY punishments.

And last I knew, forgiveness requires repentance. Has that been evinced as yet?

Though recently, I have found a notion that helps, in such circumstances. It is wholly possible to not be aware you have sinned and should repent. Therefore, it may be good practice to forgive those who are just unaware they have sinned. That way you can benefit from that same forgiveness for that which you did and yet never confessed.
 

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
This would be the perfect time to show Christ's love and forgive everybody involved.

I would suggest she fail miserably at that and SUE everybody involved.

The hard part for me to understand is how a private citizen can present ANYTHING to a Leo and said Leo does anything regarding another person rights or property.
Whoever forged the document obviously had some understanding of legal procedures. We aren't told who this person is or what position the person held. Are they an attorney, para legal, clerk of the court, elected official, retired LE? Their position in the community may have given validity for the LE's actions. Past interactions with the individual may have provided some implied authority where no formal authority existed? This is not an excuse. Sometimes corners are cut that shouldn't be.

Jim Cockrell (commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety) said in a written statement. “We take full responsibility for this and want to assure the public that we are taking necessary steps to ensure that incidents like this never happen again. This type of situation is unacceptable, and you have my commitment that we will do better.”

Since when has a technocrat ever taken full responsibility? This is something new.
 
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Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
This is a time where I would counsel perspicacity and DEEP consideration as to HOW one walks with the Lord. Christ-like forgiveness is one thing which need NOT interfere with EARTHLY punishments.
Penance for one's sins has been a Christian concept for a long time.

I hope we hear more on this. It may be a while before all the legal dust settles.
 

Walrus Whisperer

Hope in chains...
The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been spread to such an extent that anyone who wants it can get it, pretty much. With some exceptions like in totalitarian areas like China, though even then it's still often available. Perhaps it's time to pull back and focus more on helping people who come to us.
Just believing this alone is enough to have a person on a damn psych hold.
 

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
State troopers mistakenly took Alaska’s 2022 Principal of the Year into custody for a mental health examination last week after a family member presented troopers with a document they said was signed by a state judge.

That wasn’t true, and Troopers and the Alaska Court System confirmed the mistake Tuesday, six days after Colony Middle School Principal Mary Fulp posted a video of the incident and claimed that she was being detained because of her religious beliefs.
James Cockrell, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety, has ordered a full internal review of the incident, the department said.

Sounds like someone forged some papers, along with committing several other crimes.


"A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety declined to say whether the family member deliberately falsified documents or whether the mistake was innocent error. The spokesperson also declined to say whether charges are pending."

Ummm yeah that was no innocent mistake!
 

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
And this family member essentially "swatted" this woman which is also a felony. She at least had the good sense to go calmly, maybe the family member was hoping she wouldn't and that she would then be shot to death by the cops.
In a state with the highest or close to highest per capita gun ownership in the country this could have ended very badly.

It sounds like the PTB are pissed at the family member. They should be. False imprisonment, involuntary commitment, kidnaping, fraud, defamation of character, potential job loss could mean some potentially serious high dollar settlements.
 

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
So since when do the police act on a judicial document handed over by a random person?
One would think the paper trail would go from the judge right to the police. Maybe possibly a da or something in the middle.
That's why we need to know the background of the family member. Why would LE act on a document unless they truly believed it was authentic and the family member had the authority to serve it? I truly doubt this was some random Ken or Karen.
 
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BadMedicine

Would *I* Lie???
Says she's pursueing full justice through legal means but "holds no ill will to the family members" who were coming from the right place.... {barf} The COPS were coming from the right place (wll, not really, but doing THEIR JOB) the lying, manipulative, CRIMINAL who forged court documents.... wow... "coming from the right place" doesn't excuse that sh*t one bit!

Alaska Troopers apologize for unlawfully detaining Mat-Su principal for forced psych. evaluation
Joel-Avatar-150x150.jpg
By Joel Davidson Jan 24th 2023

By AlaskaWatchman.com
Alaska Department of Public Safety released a lengthy press release on Jan. 24, accompanied by an apology from Commissioner James Cockrell for actions taken by the Alaska State Troopers in wrongfully detaining and transporting Colony High School Principal Mary Fulp for a psychological evaluation against her will.

Without mentioning Fulp’s name, Cockrell said the Troopers were not authorized by the Alaska Court System to mandate that Fulp be taken into their custody on Jan. 18.
“Based on the limited information we have been able to learn about this incident from the Alaska Court System it appears that we made a mistake by transporting the adult female for an evaluation,” Cockrell said. “Our staff should have taken additional steps to verify the information presented by the complainant and the validity of the court order.”
He added: “We take full responsibility for this and want to assure the public that we are taking necessary steps to ensure that incidents like this never happen again. This type of situation is unacceptable, and you have my commitment that we will do better.”
Fulp was detained when Troopers mistakenly believed that members of her family had procured a judge’s order mandating that she undergo mental testing.
Fulp is the current principal of Colony High School and the 2022 Alaska Principal of the Year. She served 15 years as principal of Colony Middle School, where her work with students and staff earned her widespread respect and honors throughout Alaska’s educational community.
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Mary Fulp
In a widely viewed Facebook live video, which Fulp recorded when the Troopers arrived at her door on Jan. 18, a Trooper told Fulp that her family members were worried about her mental health. This occurred shortly after Fulp posted a four-hour video in which she enthusiastically claimed to have received special graces from God, a renewed sense of the Holy Spirit and the ability to speak in tongues – a belief held by millions of Christians around the world.
In the video Fulp recorded of her detainment, she told the Troopers that she was being “taken to the hospital for claiming that Jesus is king.”
Prior to the Troopers arriving at her door, some of Fulp’s family members had come to her house earlier in the day due to a concern that she was not mentally well.
According to Fulp, she asked her family to leave after the conversation proved unproductive. When they refused, she called the Alaska State Troopers.
Fulp said a female Trooper initially showed up at her door.
“She asked me if I wanted them trespassed and I said, ‘If they don’t leave, then we can have that conversation, but please ask them to leave,’” she said.
Fulp noted that the Trooper found her to be of “sound mind and body when she met with me.”
After her family left, Fulp then received a second visit from two other Troopers who said they had the court order to take her to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center.
“It’s called an ex parte order, which means they got the order without your input,” one officer explained while being recorded by Fulp in her entryway.
Two Alaska State Trooper stand in the entryway of Mary Fulp’s Mat-Su home to detain her on Jan. 18.
“So, they got the order without my input, because I just set some very clear boundaries that I wanted them to back off,” Fulp can be seen explaining to the officers. “They didn’t honor those boundaries. A Trooper came by earlier and asked me if I wanted them trespassed, and I said, ‘Only if they don’t leave.’ So, they left and came back, and this is what I get.”
According to Alaska Statue, any adult can petition a judge to order a mandatory psychological evaluation of someone alleged to be mentally ill and a grave threat to themselves or others. This order can be done ex parte (without the persons participation). Additionally, a judge can direct that an officer take the person into custody and deliver them to the nearest “appropriate facility for emergency examination or treatment.”
In Fulp’s case, however, there was never a lawful order from a judge to detain her.
The Jan. 24 press release from the Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS) states that the initial Trooper who arrived at Fulp’s home determined that she “was not exhibiting signs of grave disability from a mental health issue and was not likely to cause serious harm to herself or others and therefore did not meet the conditions for emergency detention under AS 47.30.705. The Trooper departed the residence at 12:10 pm.”
However, at 4:48 p.m. that day, the Troopers received a 911 call stating that a “complainant” claimed she had a “signed order from a judge that the adult female from the previous call was to be involuntarily committed to the nearest mental health evaluation facility.”
That’s when the two Troopers came to Fulp’s home around 5:10 p.m. on Jan. 18.

At that time, the complainant presented a document which she said was “signed by a judge and authorized the transport of the adult female.”
“Troopers observed that the document appeared to be signed by a judge and appeared to be valid,” DPS explained. “Troopers made contact with the adult female and advised her of the judge’s order.”
However, the statement notes that the “primary Trooper assigned to the call acknowledged that the female was not exhibiting grave disability from mental health and was not likely to cause serious harm to herself or others.”
Regardless, believing they were acting under the authority of the court order, the Troopers proceeded to “transport her without incident or force to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center,” DPS stated.
On Friday, Jan. 20, however, the Dept. of Public Safety discovered that the alleged court order may not have, in fact, been an actual court order.
Commissioner Cockrell then ordered a full review of the incident.
“DPS immediately requested copies of the court documents associated with this incident from the Alaska Court System to determine if they were authentic,” DPS explained. “The Alaska Court System denied the DPS request.”
The courts also denied DPS’ request for copies of the documents used by the complainant to request the judge’s order.

“On January 24, 2023, the Alaska Court System issued a public statement stating that there was no valid court order for the adult female’s involuntary commitment,” DPS notes. “This was the first official confirmation from the Alaska Court System that DPS has received that the court order that was presented was not valid.”
Commissioner Cockrell has requested a full internal review of the policies and procedures of the Alaska State Troopers to ensure that incidents like this do not occur in the future.
In a Jan. 23 interview with the Watchman, Fulp said she has obtained an attorney to “seek justice.”
“The people who are defending me are looking at every violation that has happened to me,” she said. “We’re going to right these wrongs in a very public, powerful way.”
She said she was never a threat to herself or others, and claims that her detention was done outside of the proper channels.
Fulp said the Troopers did not even have the paperwork to show her that they had a legal right to detain her.
“I had to go with them on their word,” she said. “They didn’t show me anything. It was so scary.”

It was only after she was detained that Fulp later saw a copy of the faulty order mandating that she goes to the hospital. According to Fulp, Alaska Superior Court Judge William Morse sign the order.
After arriving at the hospital, Fulp said she was required to put on hospital gear, and her personal belongings were taken from her, including a small cross which she wears around her neck.
“They took everything away from me,” Fulp recounted. “They had an officer watch over me, and had a camera on me for three days straight.”
After being admitted, she said had to undergo an extensive evaluation.
“They took my blood, they found nothing. They did a ct scan, they found nothing. They did an EKG they found nothing,” she explained. “The only thing I left with on the diagnosis is that I do need to have a follow up visit.”
They also gave her anti-psychotic drugs against her will.
“They treated me like I was crazy,” she said.
While Fulp is pursuing legal options, she said she harbors no ill will towards her family members who were “mistakenly” concerned about her.
“I love my family with all my heart,” she said. “They were coming from the right place, but it was wrong.”
Click here to support Alaska Watchman reporting.


Joel-Avatar-150x150.jpg


Joel Davidson
Joel is Editor-in-Chief of the Alaska Watchman. Joel is an award winning journalist and has been reporting for over 20 years, He is a proud father of 8 children, and lives in Palmer, Alaska.
 

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
Wow, just wow. What a major FUBAR.

Looks like the PTB know what they stepped in and are attempting to get a head of it. The apology and admission of guilt may help their credibility in the long run.

IMO the facility also bares some responsibility for not verifying the commitment documents.

God has a wicked sense of humor. It would be ironic if the perpetrator ended up in the same facility with similar treatment.
 
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KFhunter

Veteran Member
Why would the troopers take a document from a civilian, especially the one making the claim, and then act upon it without due diligence?

The courts aren't going to hand an order to a person and say "give this to the cops"

Wtf

And was the document forged? Did she work withing the court system and got letterheads or knew how the system worked?

Still lot's of questions, hopefully we'll get a final writeup on how it all went down


And ya, tbe principal has a case here for sure
 

night driver

ESFP adrift in INTJ sea
Jim Cockrell (commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety) said in a written statement. “We take full responsibility for this and want to assure the public that we are taking necessary steps to ensure that incidents like this never happen again. This type of situation is unacceptable, and you have my commitment that we will do better.”

Since when has a technocrat ever taken full responsibility? This is something new.
Remember this IS Alaska, where the long summer DAYS and long winter NIGHTS mess with their minds.
 

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
Says she's pursuing full justice through legal means but "holds no ill will to the family members" who were coming from the right place.... {barf} The COPS were coming from the right place (well, not really, but doing THEIR JOB) the lying, manipulative, CRIMINAL who forged court documents.... wow... "coming from the right place" doesn't excuse that sh*t one bit!

I'd say that this is a PR move on the part of her and her attorney, a smart one at that so as to not give the offending family member any more ammunition to destroy her further.
 

Milkweed Host

Veteran Member
The process that I'm well acquainted with is, a petitioner will pick up the
legal form from the the court admin office. In this case it was an ex parte (one sided) order for
mental commitment. The petitioner will fill it out. The country attorney's office will
review it. A judge will review it and sign it, if he/she believes the info warrants action.
This judge signed order then goes to the sheriff's office for service. This order is
logged in at the sheriff's office, the process server will read it and make service.

Just guessing, but both troopers will be disciplined for their part in this crime.

Someone will be jailed or committed for their part in this crime.

The principal will donate any monies she receives from this CF to charity.

What's truly scary is the fact that these two troopers will so willing to go out and blindly
serve/enforce a fake document.

This school principal will come out as a hero in this.
She handled herself well!!!

However, everyone involved in this crime was lucky this time????
 

bracketquant

Veteran Member
The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been spread to such an extent that anyone who wants it can get it, pretty much. With some exceptions like in totalitarian areas like China, though even then it's still often available. Perhaps it's time to pull back and focus more on helping people who come to us.
Pull back on the great commission?
 

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
Says she's pursuing full justice through legal means but "holds no ill will to the family members" who were coming from the right place...

I love this line. Not sure but I'm thinking it translates to: I forgive you and will let God and the Legal System sort it out. Their judgement and your punishment by them isn't my fault! Your crime/sin, your problem. PR? Maybe but still brilliant.

I imagine the PTB embarrassed by this FUBAR and the national if not international attention will not be happy with the perpetrator or having their authority usurped.
 

ainitfunny

Saved, to glorify God.
As far asI know, you are not required to allow entry into YOUR HOME to NON-RESIDENT FAMILY MEMBERS! And that's the chief complaint, other than her "excess joy" at a closer walk with Jesus.

I know because I am dealing with the same stress from family members who are not walking with Jesus. ( ONE living same house with boyfriend AND humiliating her disabled live in HUSBAND, one living with boyfriend, her 6 grown kids now unbelievers, , and one just not wanting a close, church worship relationship with God, kids unchurched may be unbelievers.

Asked who I want to go live with, as I get older more helpless, I say none of em.

The one grandson that talks to me says the family thinks I am too RELIGIOUS.
 
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Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
And the family member who thought they could get away with this scot-free because; "family"? I want to hear what the judge has to say. The honorable judge presiding may toss the book, building and kitchen sink at them.

I hope we get to hear the verdict(s) and/or settlement amount. This case(s) is going to have a lot of moving parts. The PTB may want it settled ASAP and be willing to pay for it. As for the family? Maybe not so much...
:popcorn1:
 

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
Says she's pursuing full justice through legal means but "holds no ill will to the family members" who were coming from the right place...

I love this line. Not sure but I'm thinking it translates to: I forgive you and will let God and the Legal System sort it out. Their judgement and your punishment by them isn't my fault! Your crime/sin, your problem. PR? Maybe but still brilliant.

I imagine the PTB embarrassed by this FUBAR and the national if not international attention will not be happy with the perpetrator or having their authority usurped.

that's how I took it, her attorney probably penned that stuff and told her to memorize it for whatever reason. Starting to think the offending family member might be a lawyer.
 

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
that's how I took it, her attorney probably penned that stuff and told her to memorize it for whatever reason. Starting to think the offending family member might be a lawyer.
Makes sense. If the family is a lawyer it will be interesting to see if they still have their license to practice when the dust settles. As a licensed attorney wouldn't they automatically be an Officer of the Court with the authority and power to serve legal papers etc.? This could explain a few things. The police may have acted in good faith, common practice and not have done anything illegal.

Another thought: It's hard to imagine anyone so entitled they believe they can refuse to leave someone's home when requested by the owner, to the point of having to be forced to leave by Police. I noted she didn't trespass them but made a point of stating that could be revisited. She's either very smart or has some good legal counsel. Sounds like both.
 
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packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
Wait until they use this same thing to come for your guns … red flag laws

there was an incident here in Iowa almost 30 years ago, quite similar to the OP, the guy was supposedly a danger to himself and had guns, lots of guns. In the end he was dead, a deputy was either dead or injured, etc., all because someone was jealous.
 
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