The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday ordered Dallas County officials to free salon owner Shelley Luther from jail while its nine judges, all Republicans, weigh an appeal challenging her incarceration as improper.
The emergency order directed county officials to release Luther on a personal bond, with no money required, “pending final disposition of her case.”
County officials also were ordered to file a response to the challenge by 4 p.m. Monday, the same day Luther’s weeklong sentence for contempt of court would have ended.
The order came shortly after Gov. Greg Abbott, seeking to end a political firestorm over Luther’s jailing, announced Thursday that local officials will be prohibited from jailing Texans for violating any of his numerous coronavirus-related executive orders.
BREAKING:
The Supreme Court of Texas has ordered Shelley Luther be released from Dallas County jail! pic.twitter.com/lU7KHzJPGi
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) May 7, 2020
BREAKING:
The Texas Supreme Court has reversed the order of an activist Democrat Judge who jailed a salon owner for defying a lockdown order
This is a massive victory for justice
No one should go to jail for trying to provide for their family while criminals get released
RT!
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 7, 2020
The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil appeals (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) is the court of last resort in criminal cases.
The Court has its seat at the Supreme Court Building on the State Capitol grounds in Austin, Texas.Like the U.S. Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court consists of a Chief Justice and eight associate justices. Unlike the SCOTUS, however, all nine positions are elected, with a term of office of six years with no term limit, rather than life tenure. All members typically belong to the same party because all are elected in statewide races, rather than by the electorates of smaller appellate districts, as the justices on the intermediate appellate courts are. Although there are fourteen such courts, the state is geographically divided into thirteen. Two districts (the 1st and the 14th) are coextensive. The First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals serve the same ten counties, sit in the same Downtown Houston Courthouse, and also share a single clerk.
The Texas Supreme Court was established in 1846 to replace the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas. It meets in Downtown Austin, Texas in an office building near the Texas State Capitol. – READ MORE »