Austin, TX – A Dallas salon owner has found a friend in the Texas Attorney General. Shelley Luther, who was sentenced to 7 days in jail on Tuesday, told the judge in the case she refused to apologize. She had very good reasons.
In her comments to the judge, Luther claimed that she had no choice. She had to feed her family and that her stylists needed to feed their families. It’s a prime example of how these small businesses and their employees are struggling across the country.
The judge, ordered her to pay fines and spend 7 days in jail due to her refusal to apologize. The judge, Eric Moyé, is a life long Democrat and had no mercy on Luther. But her luck may be changing.
The Texas AG Ken Paxton sent a letter to the judge urging him to release Luther. Paxton’s office says that Luther was unjustly jailed. He also called the actions a misguided abuse of power in a tweet later.
Shelley Luther should immediately be released from jail. Locking her up is a misguided abuse of power, especially considering Dallas County released real criminals to “protect them from COVID-19.”
Release her now so she can return to her family. pic.twitter.com/67KrhQBEyf
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) May 6, 2020
Soon after the letter was sent, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also came out in support of Luther. The Lt. Gov. of Texas Dan Patrick said he will pay her fine and that he is offering to go on house arrest for her in order to have her released.
7 days in jail, no bail and a $7K fine is outrageous. No surprise Texans are responding. I’m covering the $7K fine she had to pay and I volunteer to be placed under House Arrest so she can go to work and feed her kids. #txlege #TexansHelpingTexans https://t.co/gdtMLAHFV5
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) May 6, 2020
Texas has released criminals from the jails in order to help with the concerns over coronavirus spread. But in this instance, they jailed someone that did not deserve it. It continues the unconstitutional overreach of the stay orders.
Many others have protested the orders in Texas, causing Gov. Abbott to allow hair salons and barber shops to open earlier than initially planned. Social distancing measures must be maintained, but the businesses can open on May 8th rather than a week later as planned.
Across the country, people are hurting. Recent studies are showing that people are struggling to pay for food. The Democrats argue that this would be the time for government intervention, but that’s not the case.
We are in this situation because of government intervention. It’s time to get these businesses, like Luther’s, back to work. Americans were doing very well until the government started forcing shut downs.
We have learned enough about the virus to know that we can safely open. Other countries have proven that shut downs are not necessary. This government overreach has went on long enough.
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