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The Texas attorney general on Wednesday harshly criticized a decision by a Dallas County judge to sentence a woman to prison for opening up her hair salon in defiance of the state’s lockdown order. In a statement, Attorney General Ken Paxton said Shelley Luther was “unjustly jailed” for trying to feed her family and sent a …
The Texas attorney general on Wednesday harshly criticized a decision by a Dallas County judge to sentence a woman to prison for opening up her hair salon in defiance of the state’s lockdown order.
In a statement, Attorney General Ken Paxton said Shelley Luther was “unjustly jailed” for trying to feed her family and sent a letter to Dallas County State District Judge Eric Moyé calling on him to release her.
“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,” Paxton said in his release.
“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,” the attorney added.
The salon owner was sentenced to seven days behind bars after she refused to apologize for opening her salon. She was told she could either apologize for her “selfish” actions and admit the “error of your ways,” close the salon until Friday and pay a fine — or accept a jail sentence.
“I have to disagree with you, sir, when you say that I’m selfish because feeding my kids is not selfish,” Luther told the judge. “I have hairstylists that are going hungry because they would rather feed their kids. So sir, if you think the law is more important than kids getting fed, then please go ahead with your decision. But I am not going to shut the salon.”
“As a mother, Ms. Luther wanted to feed her children,” Paxton wrote in his letter to the judge. “As a small business owner, she wanted to help her employees feed their children. Needless to say, these are laudable goals that warrant the exercise of enforcement discretion.”
Governor Greg Abbot, whose lockdown order Luther defied by opening her salon, said Wednesday that he agreed with his attorney general on the matter and called her sentence an “excessive action” by the judge.
“Jailing Texans for non-compliance with executive orders should always be the last available option,” Abbot said. “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.”
Texas is set to allow salons, barber shops, and nail parlors to reopen this Friday when the governor’s lockdown order in response to the coronavirus expires.
