This archive report was first published on 6 May 2020.
On May 5, 2020, a Dallas County judge sentenced Shelley Luther, a salon owner, to a week in jail and fined her at least $3,500 for defying state and county orders to stay closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shelley Luther, 46, had reopened her 19-seat salon, Salon À La Mode, on April 24, despite the orders. She was found to be in contempt of court by Judge Eric V. Moyé of the 14th Civil District Court in Dallas County.
During a hearing, Judge Moyé said that Luther had acted selfishly by reopening her business and that she could have avoided jail time if she had ceased her activities. He also called on her to apologize to the elected officials whose orders she flouted.
However, Luther refused to comply with the stay-at-home orders and stated that she had no regrets about reopening her salon after a closure of more than a month.
“I have to disagree with you, sir, when you say that I’m selfish, because feeding my kids is not selfish,” Luther said. “So, sir, if you think the law’s more important than kids getting fed, then please go ahead with your decision. But I am not going to shut the salon.”
Warren V. Norred, Luther’s lawyer, planned to appeal the ruling immediately and suggested that politics, not the spread of the virus, had prompted Judge Moyé to mete out jail time for Luther.
“It’s breaking Shelley Luther,” Norred said. “That’s what this court wants to do.”
On April 24, police officers visited Luther’s salon and issued her a citation for reopening her business, which had been closed since March 22. The next day, Luther appeared at a protest against stay-at-home orders in Frisco, Texas, where she tore up a cease-and-desist letter sent to her by a Dallas County judge.
