Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano called a jailed Texas salon owner an “American hero” for refusing to “bend the knee” after a judge said he would consider a lighter sentence if she admitted she was selfish for violating social distancing orders in opening her business amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“He actually asked her to admit that she was selfish. What is this, Catechism class in the fourth grade?” Napolitano asked Thursday morning on “Fox & Friends.”
“She was convicted of violating an order of the judge, who told her to keep her business shut. A judge has no more authority to close her business than the governor does — neither of them do,” Napolitano added while calling the judge “a two-bit political hack in a black robe.”
“I’m sorry she’s [in jail],” he said. “She will be applauded when she comes out for refusing to kowtow to him.”
The perspective comes after Dallas Judge Eric V. Moyé sentenced Shelley Luther to seven days in jail for “flagrant and intentional” defiance while offering her “an opportunity to acknowledge that your actions were selfish, putting your own interest ahead of those in the community in which you live.”
Luther, however, refused to apologize.
“I have to disagree with you sir, when you say that I’m selfish because feeding my kids is not selfish,” Luther replied. “I have hairstylists that are going hungry because they’d rather feed their kids. So sir, if you think the law is more important than kids being fed then please go ahead with your decision but I’m not going to shut the salon.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced earlier this week that barbershops and nail and hair salons can reopen on Friday, with gyms reopening on May 18 with certain restrictions.
The coronavirus-related death toll in Texas is currently at 884, according to Johns Hopkins University. The Lone Star State, with 29 million residents, is the second-most populated state in the country behind California.