Shelley Luther, a Dallas County salon owner, reopened her salon on April 24th, even though stay-at-home orders were still in place. She justified opening her “non-essential” business because it was essential to her, she needed to feed her family and other stylists at her salon were in the same boat.
Dallas County sent a citation, a cease-and-desist order, and a restraining order demanding that Luther close her shop until the stay-at-home orders were lifted. But she refused to close her salon, so police arrested her and jailed her without bail.
It is hard to believe that such a thing would happen in Texas, but it did.
After her arrest, she appeared in Judge Eric Moye’s court. Moye, a Harvard-trained lawyer, and a Democrat activist, seemed to want to punish Luther and make her grovel for defying the lockdown orders of “elected officials.” Luther stood her ground in the courtroom, indicating that she was willing to pay $7,000 fine and to do the 7 days of jail time, but she would not close her salon, stating that the stylists that work there need to feed their kids, too.
Luther owns the salon, but the other stylists are independent stylists who must earn their living, too. As Luther’s lawyer said, they only get paid when they do haircuts.
After the altercation with Judge Moye in court, Luther’s attorney Warren Norred appeared on Tucker Carlson to discuss what happened to his client, calling Judge Moye a “tiny tyrant” demanding that Luther “apologize” for being selfish and putting her community at risk. The judge gave her the option to avoid jail if she would apologize (grovel) to the elected officials that mandated the lockdown and keep her salon closed until the lockdown is lifted.
Norred laid out the case that Luther was unlawfully jailed: “Though the rule of law is cited by the court, there exists no exception for cities to the general rule that an injunction must be supported by a bond. Without an enforceable injunction, no contempt can be found. Our position is that Ms. Luther has been unlawfully arrested and jailed. I hope to obtain a writ of habeas corpus very soon.”
COVID-19 and jails
By now, it is well known that many states, including Texas, have released thousands of inmates from jail and prison to avoid spreading the coronavirus to prisoners and employees, but Judge Moye thinks that, in the case of Luther and her “defiance,” it is worth the risk.
In a state where over 1300 prisoners and 400 employees have been positive for COVID-19, over a thousand inmates in Dallas County jails have been released into the general population to protect them and slow the spread of the virus in prisons and jails. But Judge Moye thinks that Luther deserves to be exposed to the virus while actual criminals are allowed to go free.
Luther has support
Many people support Luther’s effort to stay open and are showing it by sending money to a GoFundMe page started by Rick Page.
Over 12,000 people have donated close to $500,000 to Luther in a generous show of support.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton chided Judge Moye for his overbearing ruling and called for Luther’s immediate release saying:
I find it outrageous and out of touch that during this national pandemic, a judge, in a county that actually released hardened criminals for fear of contracting COVID-19, would jail a mother for operating her hair salon in an attempt to put food on her family’s table. The trial judge did not need to lock up Shelley Luther. His order is a shameful abuse of judicial discretion, which seems like another political stunt in Dallas. He should release Ms. Luther immediately.
Texas Governor Gregg Abbott, agreed with Paxton stating:
I join the Attorney General in disagreeing with the excessive action by the Dallas Judge, putting Shelley Luther in jail for seven days. As I have made clear through prior pronouncements, jailing Texans for non-compliance with executive orders should always be the last available option. Compliance with executive orders during this pandemic is important to ensure public safety; however, surely there are less restrictive means to achieving that goal than jailing a Texas mother.
The Lt. Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, said he would pay Luther’s fine and go under house arrest so that she could return to her salon.
Luther should have all of our support in her stand against petty dictates and dictators.
Watch video of Judge Moye and Luther:
Update!
Good news in Shelley Luther’s case. After spending two days in jail, Luther was released by order of the Supreme Court of Texas.
Governor Abbott modified his executive order to remove jail time as a punishment for violating them. Abbott explained:
“Throwing Texans in jail who have had their businesses shut down through no fault of their own is nonsensical, and I will not allow it to happen.”
The Texas Supreme court then ordered Luther’s release.
Watch Luther thank everyone for their support:
1,556 Responses
Your style is so unique compared to other folks I have read stuff from. Thank you for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this site.|
What’s Going down i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I have discovered It absolutely helpful and it has helped me out loads. I am hoping to give a contribution & aid different customers like its helped me. Good job.|
What i don’t realize is in truth how you’re not really much more neatly-favored than you may be right now. You’re very intelligent. You realize thus significantly on the subject of this topic, made me in my opinion imagine it from a lot of various angles. Its like women and men don’t seem to be involved except it is something to do with Lady gaga! Your personal stuffs nice. All the time maintain it up!|
Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It truly helpful & it helped me out much. I’m hoping to give something again and help others such as you helped me.|
Howdy! This blog post could not be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He continually kept talking about this. I’ll forward this information to him. Fairly certain he’ll have a good read. Thank you for sharing!|
Hello There. I discovered your blog the usage of msn. That is an extremely smartly written article. I’ll make sure to bookmark it and return to read extra of your useful info. Thank you for the post. I’ll certainly return.|
This design is spectacular! You most certainly know how to keep a reader amused. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Excellent job. I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!|
Keep on working, great job!|
I enjoy what you guys are usually up too. This type of clever work and coverage! Keep up the superb works guys I’ve added you guys to my own blogroll.
Hello, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your blog in Firefox, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, wonderful blog!|
Gracias Ronald – no tiene sentido encubrir el hecho de que su educación es un trabajo relativamente duro. Todo lo que vale la pena hacer tiene una curva de aprendizaje, ¿verdad? 🙂
instagram takipçi satın al
instagram takipçi satın al
I blog frequently and I really appreciate your information. The article has really peaked my interest. I am going to book mark your website and keep checking for new information about once a week. I subscribed to your Feed as well.|
best i have ever seen!Hello, always i used to check webpage posts here early in the daylight, for the reason that i love to gain knowledge of more and more.
This blog is great check it out
Amazing! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It’s on a totally different topic but it has pretty much the same page layout and design. Superb choice of colors!
Interesting stuff to read. Keep it up.
Interesting stuff to read. Keep it up.
such a great information for blogger i am a professional blogger thanks
nice information for a new blogger. it is really helpful
carry on, dont stop
such a great information for blogger i am a professional blogger thanks
Today, while I was at work, my sister stole my iphone and tested to see if it can survive a thirty foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is entirely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
hello!,I love your writing so so much! proportion we keep in touch extra about your article on AOL? I require an expert on this space to solve my problem. May be that is you! Having a look ahead to look you.
Hi all, here every person is sharing these kinds of know-how, therefore it’s fastidious to read this website, and I used to go to see this website every day.|
What i do not realize is in truth how you’re not actually a lot more well-appreciated than you might be now. You’re so intelligent. You recognize thus significantly when it comes to this matter, produced me personally imagine it from so many numerous angles. Its like men and women don’t seem to be fascinated unless it’s something to do with Girl gaga! Your individual stuffs great. Always deal with it up!
Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back often!
Thanks so much for the blog article.Really thank you! Awesome.
Hey there would you mind stating which blog platform you’re working with? I’m going to start my own blog soon but I’m having a tough time deciding between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S My apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
Thank you for any other fantastic article. Where else could anyone get that type of info in such an ideal method of writing? I’ve a presentation subsequent week, and I am at the search for such info.
Hey there would you mind stating which blog platform you’re working with? I’m planning to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a hard time choosing between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S My apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!|
Hi there, just changed into aware of your weblog thru Google, and found that it’s truly informative. I’m gonna watch out for brussels. I’ll be grateful when you proceed this in future. Lots of folks will probably be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!
I really like what you guys are usually up too. This type of clever work and exposure! Keep up the awesome works guys I’ve included you guys to our blogroll.|