Civil Disobedience – Salon Owner Fined and Jailed for Opening Business, Lieutenant Governor Offers to Pay Fine and Serve Her Time

The illegal stay-at-home Executive Orders by governors across America ignore the fundamental foundation of our Country: Freedom!

Two American Heroes committed civil disobedience to oppose Government Tyranny; Texas salon owner Shelley Luthor and (surprisingly) Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick.

While it’s important to keep at-risk people safe from Covid-19 (over 60 and/or with pre-existing conditions), recent independent testing by mulitple reputable organizations has shown the impact of the coronavirus is roughly equivalent to the seasonal flu.

Millions of people have taken a huge financial hit with the lock downs across the country.  In many cases they have been forced to forgo paying their mortgages to put food on the table for their families… and some can’t even afford food.  That’s the corner that Shelly Luther and her employees were backed into, so she violated Texas’ ongoing coronavirus shutdown despite a citation from the city… and a cease-and-desist letter… and a visit from law enforcement.

Luthor is not the first person to open up her business against a Governor’s executive order, and hopefully many more will follow.

Related: Health and Liquor Licenses Pulled after Maine Restaurant Defies State Lockdown Orders

During sentencing, Judge Eric Moye told Luther, “You owe an apology to the elected officials whom you disrespected by flagrantly ignoring and, in one case, defiling, their orders, which you now know obviously applied to you.” He detailed her disrespect in choosing to open her business and called her actions “selfish,” as she ignored multiple public and individual mandates to cease business at her salon.

Judge Eric Moyé asked Luther if she would make a statement admitting she was wrong and selfish. Listen here… pic.twitter.com/6JMukC3v76

— Andrea Lucia (@CBS11Andrea) May 5, 2020

The Judge gave Luther an opportunity to admit she was selfish and agree to not re-open her business in lieu of jail time.  Luther’s response deserves tremendous respect;

“I have to disagree with you, sir, when you say that I am selfish because feeding my kids is not selfish.  I have hair stylists that are going hungry because they’d rather feed their kids. So sir, if you think the law is more important than kids being fed, then please go ahead with your decision. But I’m not going to shut the salon.”

The court bailiff then took Luther away.   What makes this situation unique is the support she received from the the Texas government:

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick tweeted, “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.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said, “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.”

“The trial judge did not need to lock up Shelley Luther,” he continued. “His order is a shameful abuse of judicial discretion, which seems like another political stunt in Dallas. He should release Ms. Luther immediately.”

It’s about time someone in government showed respect for our inalienable Rights and applied common sense.  Shelly Luther, Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton deserve credit for standing up for what is right.  Even Texas Governor Greg Abbott called for Luther’s immediate release and said the judge “went too far in applying the law”.

It’s time for small businesses across NH to stand up for their rights and open up.

Here is the story as reported by Reuters:

H/T: The Blaze, TownHall, PJMedia