Dallas woman jailed for opening salon during pandemic, says 'Feeding my kids is not selfish'

A Dallas woman is reportedly serving seven days in jail for keeping open her salon in defiance of a government order declaring non-essential businesses remain closed amid the coronavirus.

The owner, Shelley Luther, was on Tuesday found in contempt of court and fined $7,000 for keeping open the salon, in violation of a judge’s temporary restraining order issued against the business, according to the Dallas Morning News. 

Luther was reportedly taken into custody immediately after the hearing Tuesday and booked into a county jail. Luther’s salon along with other businesses deemed non-essential were forced to close March 22. Luther reportedly reopened April 24 and tore up the court’s cease-and-desist order the following day at a demonstration.

During the hearing, Luther said she had to open her businesses because neither she nor her employees could feed their families.

“Feeding my kids is not selfish,” she told the judge. “If you think the law is more important than kids getting fed, then please go ahead with your decision, but I am not going to shut the salon.”