A former Dallas salon owner who was jailed for reopening his salon during the coronavirus pandemic will be the next state representative for Texas House District 62. Shelley Luther won the election with nearly 80% of the vote.
Mr. Luther defeated Democratic challenger Tiffany Drake in the race for the far north Texas Congressional seat by about 67,000 votes.
In April 2020, Breitbart Texas reported that Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins (D) accused Luther of flouting orders to close businesses during the COVID-19 lockdown. It was reported that he was ordered to be imprisoned.
Dallas police said they went to her salon several times in response to complaints about people gathering outside the salon. Security guards were stationed inside the store to control access and maintain social distancing, the news outlet said.
Throughout the morning, Dallas police and fire officials were at the store and issued her a citation around 1 p.m. If convicted of the summons, Luther could be fined up to $2,000 for failing to comply with the judge's order. In Texas, the county judge is the chief executive of county government.
Late Friday, Judge Jenkins issued a cease-and-desist order directing Luther to close his business until the stay-at-home order is lifted.
Breitbart reported that Luther was ordered to serve seven days in jail in May for failing to comply with Jenkins' order to cease and desist.
The move to fine and jail Luther came on the same day that Gov. Greg Abbott announced hair salons would be allowed to reopen.
“I won't pay the fine,” a defiant salon owner told reporters in April.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called Dallas County's imprisonment of Mr. Luther an “excess” and a “shameful abuse.”
“In the middle of this national pandemic, a county judge who was actually releasing felons out of fear of contracting the coronavirus is going to jail a mother who ran a hair salon to sell food. “I think it's outrageous and out of line “at her family's dinner table,'' Attorney General Paxton said in a written statement Wednesday. “The trial judge did not need to lock up Shelley Luther. His order is a shameful abuse of judicial discretion and looks like another political stunt in Dallas. He should be released immediately.”
The salon owner's jail order was handed down by Texas District Court Judge Eric Moye. Justice Moe faced the error of his ways and said, “We must understand that a society cannot function if its belief in the concept of freedom allows it to display contempt for the decisions of duly elected officials.'' There is,” he said.
Governor Abbott followed suit, saying, “I join the Attorney General in opposing Judge Dallas' overreach in jailing Shelley Luther for seven days.'' As I have made clear through previous statements, jailing Texans who fail to comply with executive orders should always be the last option. Compliance with executive orders during this pandemic is critical to ensuring public safety. But there are certainly less restrictive means of achieving that goal than jailing Texas mothers. ”
fox 4 reported Luther previously ran for House District 30, losing to Republican Drew Springer. She then ran in the Republican primary for House District 62, but lost to Reggie Smith.
She went on to defeat Smith in the March 5, 2024 Republican primary.
bob price He is an associate editor and senior news contributor on the Breitbart Texas Border Team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston What is your point? sunday morning talk show. He is also the president of blue wonder cancer care products.
