Governor Greg Abbott just announced he’s eliminating the punishment of jail time from his executive order and is making it retroactive in order to free Shelley Luthere:
Throwing Texans in jail whose biz's shut down through no fault of their own is wrong.
I am eliminating jail for violating an order, retroactive to April 2, superseding local orders.
Criminals shouldn’t be released to prevent COVID-19 just to put business owners in their place.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) May 7, 2020
“Criminals shouldn’t be released to prevent COVID-19 just to put business owners in their place.” Amen!
Abbott gets more specific about this in the statement on his website:
Governor Greg Abbott today modified his executive orders related to COVID-19 to eliminate confinement as a punishment for violating these orders. These modifications are being applied retroactively.
“Throwing Texans in jail who have had their businesses shut down through no fault of their own is nonsensical, and I will not allow it to happen,” said Governor Abbott. “That is why I am modifying my executive orders to ensure confinement is not a punishment for violating an order. This order is retroactive to April 2nd, supersedes local orders and if correctly applied should free Shelley Luther. It may also ensure that other Texans like Ana Isabel Castro-Garcia and Brenda Stephanie Mata who were arrested in Laredo, should not be subject to confinement. As some county judges advocate for releasing hardened criminals from jail to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it is absurd to have these business owners take their place.”
Thank you Governor Greg Abbott for going above and beyond rhetoric and setting Shelley Luther free. When you do run for president one day, and I hope you will, I’ll definitely be in your corner.