DALLAS (AP) — A Dallas hair salon owner is in jail after she continued to operate her business despite shutdown orders that were in place because of the coronavirus pandemic.
A judge in Dallas found Shelley Luther in contempt of court and sentenced her Tuesday to seven days behind bars.
Luther says she had to reopen her Dallas salon because she wouldn't have been able to feed her kids otherwise. She also says she applied for a federal loan but didn’t receive it until Sunday.
Judge Eric Moye says Luther expressed no “contrition, remorse or regret” for her actions.
During Luther’s hearing on Tuesday, the judge said he would consider levying a fine instead of jail time if she would apologize and not reopen until allowed to do so, but Luther refused.
The judge called Luther’s defiance of the court’s order, “open, flagrant and intentional.”
Luther was jailed on Tuesday afternoon, around the same time Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced salons and barbershops can reopen Friday.
