Shelley Luther, a Dallas salon owner, was jailed for two nights this week after refusing to close her hair salon. Luther opened her hair salon on April 24, two weeks before other hair and nail salons in Texas.
Judge Eric Moyé of the 14th Civil District Court in Dallas sentenced her to seven days in jail for criminal contempt of court, after she violated a court restraining order to close the business.
This provoked a backlash among Texas conservatives. State leaders rallied to her cause, including the governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, as well as national figures like Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Ted Cruz. A GoFundMe page in support of Luther has raised over $500,000.
But what’s the reality behind all the hoopla? We take a closer look.
Myth #1: The judge who ruled against Shelley Luther was appointed by Barack Obama.
This is a rumor that circulated both online and among protesters in Dallas. Eric Moyé, the judge who sentenced Shelley Luther, presides over the 14th Judicial District Court of Texas. That’s a state court, not a federal court, so Barack Obama has nothing to do with it. Also, in Texas, district court judges are elected, not appointed.
A similar but also false rumor says that Moyé served in the Obama Administration. As a three-term judge, first elected by the voters of Dallas County in 2008, Moyé served on the bench throughout Obama’s time in office. Before becoming a judge, he worked at law firms Vincent & Moyé, PC, and Hamilton, Koch & Knox, LLP.
Myth #2: This is a Democrat/Republican issue and Shelley Luther was arrested for defying orders issued by liberal Dallas officials.
Shelley Luther defied orders made by the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott. Local orders issued by the Democratic County Judge of Dallas, Clay Jenkin, also were in effect, but these did not differ from Abbott’s orders in respect to hair salons.
Myth #3: Greg Abbott freed Shelley Luther.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott didn’t free Shelley Luther; in fact, he’s a big part of the reason why she was jailed. In statewide public health orders, Abbott prohibited hair salons from reopening until May 8. He warned in these orders that violations could result in fines or up to 180 days in jail.
After a public outcry over Shelley Luther’s jailing, Abbott changed course and modified his orders to eliminate jail time as a possible penalty. That in itself didn’t trigger Luther’s release from jail, because she was detained for a judgment of contempt of court. Abbott had no power to release Luther. Instead, Shelley was released when the Texas Supreme Court issued an emergency order for Luther’s release on personal bond.
Myth #4: Shelley Luther was jailed because she wouldn’t apologize for keeping her salon open.
There’s a grain of truth to this one. On April 28, Judge Eric Moyé issued a restraining order telling her not to open her salon, as she was in violation of state and local health orders. On May 5, he scheduled a court hearing after she kept her salon open in defiance of that order. The judge offered to let Luther avoid jail time if she would agree to keep her nail salon closed, and apologize for her actions, admitting that they were “selfish.”
When Luther refused and said she would keep the salon open if released, the judge found her in contempt of court, and ordered her jailed for seven days. Though it may seem unusual for a judge to ask a defendant to apologize, it’s actually not unusual in criminal sentencing for a judge to consider a defendant’s failure to show remorse.
Myth #5: The Texas governor could have pardoned Shelley Luther or commuted her sentence.
Under the Texas Constitution, the governor has fairly limited powers of pardon. He may only reduce a convict’s sentence upon the recommendation of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. That limitation was added to the constitution after Governors James “Pa” and Miriam “Ma” Ferguson famously pardoned thousands of convicted felons, generating rumors that pardons were available in exchange for cash payments. Today the governor may act independently of the Board only to halt an execution temporarily.
Myth #6: The Texas Supreme Court overturned the judgment against Shelley Luther.
The Texas Supreme Court did not overturn Judge Eric Moyé judgement against Luther – it just allowed her to go free on ‘personal bond.’ That type of release is similar to an accused person going free on bail. Luther is appealing the judgement against her by the Dallas Court, but an appeals court has not yet made a ruling on that.
Myth #7: There is no legal basis for the public health orders that Shelley Luther defied.
Luther’s lawyers are challenging the constitutionality of the public health orders that required her to keep her salon closed. But so far no court has struck down any of the public health orders issued by the Republican state leader, Greg Abbott.
Abbott’s orders are issued under the Texas Disaster Act of 1975 (chapter 418 of the Texas Government Code). That’s the legal basis for emergency orders imposed on hair salons and other businesses.
Myth #8: Shelley Luther was an impoverished mother just trying to feed her family.
Shelley Luther has falsely been portrayed as an impoverished single mom struggling to feed her family. Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in a letter, “As a mother, Ms. Luther wanted to feed her children.” In fact, Luther is a business owner with 19 employees and very expensive tastes, being the owner of an exotic cat and six horses.
In court filings, Luther’s lawyers didn’t say that she had difficulty feeding her children. Instead, her attorneys wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court that Luther “has a lease to pay, and stylists who are depending on her operation in order to pay their bills and pay for food.”
According to Denton County appraisal records, Luther owns two residential properties: a home on a one-acre lot valued at $292,256, and a four-acre lot with a horse stables valued at $103,768. She also owns $23,620 worth of business personal property at her salon in Dallas County.
Luther divorced in June last year. She had no children with her ex-husband, Barry Dee Luther, according to divorce records, though reportedly has two children from a prior marriage. Her current boyfriend, musician Tim Georgeff, wrote recently on Facebook that Luther and he have “six horses, three mini-horses, two donkeys, eleven goats, three ducks, six dogs, a wallaby, a ringtail lemur, and a bengal cat.”
Luther and her boyfriend were featured in a KHOU TV news report from Galveston in March as they boarded a Royal Caribbean cruise. The coronavirus, said Luther’s boyfriend, “is really nothing more than a severe cold.”
Update, 5/11/20: Dallas salon owner Shelley Luther admitted to ABC’s The View that she received a forgivable PPP loan of $18,000 from the federal government, just two days before her court appearance. Luther said, “I don’t know how I’m supposed to spend it, what I’m supposed to spend it on.” Luther’s hair stylists sub-lease space from her and aren’t actually employees, so she said wasn’t sure whether she could use the loan to pay them.
