Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is offering to pay the fines levied against the hair salon owner who was jailed for refusing to close her business during the coronavirus pandemic despite an executive shutdown order.
“7 days in jail, no bail and a $7K fine is outrageous. No surprise Texans are responding,” Patrick tweeted Wednesday. “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.”
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. #txlege #TexansHelpingTexans https://t.co/gdtMLAHFV5
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) May 6, 2020
Judge Eric Moye sentenced Shelley Luther on Tuesday to a week in jail and told her she needs to apologize to “the elected officials for whom you disrespected.”
Two of those elected officials, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott, suggested no apology would be necessary and said Luther should be freed.
“As I have made clear through prior pronouncements, jailing Texans for noncompliance with executive orders should always be the last available option,” Abbott said in a statement. “Compliance with executive orders during this pandemic is important to ensure public safety; however, surely there are less restrictive means to achieving that goal than jailing a Texas mother.”
Texas’s shutdown order for salons expires Friday.
