A Dallas hair salon owner in a contempt hearing for re-opening her business under lockdown told the judge that “feeding my kids is not selfish.” Her comments came after the judge offered her the opportunity to avoid jail time by apologizing and admitting she her actions were wrong.
“I have to disagree with you sir when you that I’m selfish [for re-opening the salon].” Salon Á la Mode owner Shelly Luther told Judge Eric Moyé during a contempt of court proceeding broadcast on the internet and tweeted by CBSDFW reporter Andrea Lucia, “because feeding my kids is not selfish.”
The judge told Shelley Luther she
could avoid jail time if she apologized, admitted she was wrong, and agreed to close her hair salon until it was allowed to open.This is her response…@CBSDFW pic.twitter.com/1phdNUsLme
— Andrea Lucia (@CBS11Andrea) May 5, 2020
Judge Eric Moyé presides over the 14th Civil District Court located in Dallas County. Dallas County issued an order to Luther requiring her to close her business after she opened in defiance of the stay at home Coronavirus lockdown.
Luther told the judge, “I have hairstylists that are going hungry because they’d 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.”
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Prior to her statement, Judge Moyé said she must see the errors of her ways and “understand that the society cannot function where one’s own belief in a concept of liberty permits you to flaunt your disdain for the rulings of duly elected officials.”
“That you owe an apology to the elected officials who you disrespected by flagrantly ignoring, and in one case defiling, their orders you now know obviously apply to you,” Moyé lectured. “That you understand that the proper way in which an ordered society to engage concerns that you might have had is to hire a lawyer and advocate for change an exception or an amendment to laws that you find offensive.”
Lucia reported that the judge ordered her jailed for seven days and fined $500 for every day the salon remains open. So far, the fine stands at $3,500.
Luther’s attorney said he would appeal the judge’s ruling.
The contempt hearing occurred at about the time Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that hair salons and gyms could re-open on Friday.
Read prior coverage of the salon owner’s efforts to re-open her business here.
Story cited here.