The Supreme Court of Texas has ordered the release of Dallas salon owner Shelley Luther after she was sentenced to seven days in jail and a $7,000 fine for defying the state's stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. After the sentence was imposed by Judge Eric Moye, a national outcry ensued.
Efforts to support the mom of three have included a GoFundMe that raised nearly a half-million dollars and calls for her release all the way up to the governor of Texas. "As I have made clear through prior pronouncements, jailing Texans for non-compliance with executive orders should always be the last available option," Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement Wednesday.
The state's attorney general Ken Paxton also urged her release, calling her sentence a "shameful abuse of judicial discretion." Late last month, Luther talked to Inside Edition about why she felt re-opening was her only option.
"I'm behind on my mortgage," the mom of three told Inside Edition. "I know a lot of my stylists haven't paid their mortgage. It's either come in and make money to be able to feed your family or stay home and freak out."
Luther has been kept in isolation while in custody at Lew Sterrett Justice Center in Dallas because there is a COVID-19 outbreak in the jail.
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