Cruz travels to Dallas to get haircut from jailed salon owner

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Friday traveled back to his home state to get his hair cut by Shelley Luther, the Dallas salon owner who was jailed for refusing to obey Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) coronavirus stay-at-home order.

Luther defied Abbott’s order and kept doing business at her salon À la Mode, receiving a cease–and–desist letter from a Dallas County judge on April 24. Luther still kept her salon open and a temporary restraining order against her was filed on April 28.

On Tuesday, she was sentenced to seven days in jail after being held in criminal and civil contempt of court for refusing to comply with the restraining order. 

The same day, Abbott announced that Texans couldn’t be jailed for violating state executive orders and that salons and barbershops would be included in the businesses that would be allowed to reopen on Friday.

Texas lawmakers swiftly rebuked the sentencing.

On Wednesday, Abbott called for Luther’s immediate release. 

“Throwing Texans in jail whose biz’s shut down through no fault of their own is wrong,” he said in a tweet at the time. “I am eliminating jail for violating an order, retroactive to April 2, superseding local orders.”

Luther was released Thursday after the Texas Supreme Court issued an order for her release.

In a tweet, Cruz praised Luther, saying that hair salons around the state were able to open on Friday because of her courage.

“Shelley stood up for liberty and common sense and I am proud to stand with her,” he added. 

Today I traveled to #Dallas to get a haircut at Salon A la Mode, owned by Shelley Luther. Thanks in large part to Shelley’s courage, hair salons are allowed to open in #Texas today. Shelley stood up for liberty and common sense and I am proud to stand with her. pic.twitter.com/mFYwBmjhjj

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 8, 2020