14th District Court Judge Eric V. Moyé. Photo: Thomas N. Phillips/ALM

Attorneys across the country have stepped up to defend a Dallas district judge in the court of public opinion from what they call unfair criticism over the judge's rulings in the case of a Dallas woman who opened her salon in violation of COVID-19 orders.

Fourteenth District Judge Eric Moyé is presiding over the case of Shelley Luther, whom the city of Dallas sued for opening her salon in violation of COVID-19 orders from Dallas County and the state of Texas. Moyé found Luther had violated a temporary restraining order that required her to close her salon, and then sentenced her to jail time—but the Texas Supreme Court released Luther as it handles her appeal.

News of the case has gone international.

Moyé, who declined comment, has faced criticism from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, television pundits and uncounted users on social media.

Now Dallas lawyers who know Moyé are coming to his defense, as is the American Board of Trial Advocates, a national organization of 7,600 plaintiffs and defense attorneys in all 50 states.

 'Law breaker?'

American Board of Trial Advocates President Marquette Wolf said that the group operates a program to defend the independent judiciary, and there was a unanimous vote in favor of making a statement to defend Moyé.

"I see what Judge Moyé did, and I think any judge in that position would have come to a similar conclusion," said Wolf, partner in Ted B. Lyon & Associates in Mesquite. "We are not defending the order. We are defending the need for courts to be able to enforce orders. It's a rule-of-law issue."

The American Board of Trial Advocates said in a statement that no court in America would have tolerated a person adamantly refusing to follow the law.

"Not long after, Attorney General Ken Paxton and others began to lead a chorus of criticism, but not of the law breaker. Instead, they criticized Judge Moyé, the law upholder," the statement said. "We strongly believe that the criticism of Judge Moyé is unfounded, unfair and ultimately counterproductive to the rule of law."

It was the judge's job to determine if Luther violated COVID-19 orders by Dallas County and the state of Texas, and there was no question that Luther had done it, the American Board of Trial Advocates statement said. Luther also stated she would continue to violate the orders, according to the group, and no judge can allow open defiance of the law.

Warren Norred, who represents Luther, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

'Absurd'

It seems Moyé applied the law to the facts, and it's not right to criticize judges for doing what they believe they should do, said Dorsey & Whitney partner Douglas Lang, who served for 16 years as a justice on Dallas' Fifth Court of Appeals. Lang reviewed the case file to reach his opinion.

"He proceeded according to his authority and power to review evidence, render a temporary restraining order, and then according to all reports, when Ms. Luther willfully violated the temporary restraining order, the judge is within his authority to sanction her for that," Lang said. "The problem is that if people ignore valid orders of the court, then we have chaos."

Dallas litigator Jeff Tillotson said that Moyé cares about the law, not about political affiliation or about what is popular. Anyone who showed up in his courtroom and stated they were refusing to follow the law would have been treated the same as Luther, he said.

"As a lawyer, having been in his court numerous times—sometimes winning and sometimes losing–but always knowing he was doing his best to apply the law," said Tillotson, founding partner in Tillotson Law and a member of the ABOTA Dallas executive committee. "Respect for the rule of law is the most important thing in Judge Moyé's courtroom."

Employment litigator Steve Kardell of Dallas, who recently wrapped up a trial in Moyé's court, wrote in an email that the situation has become "absurd" because of the way politicians have reacted.

Kardell, partner in Kardell Law Group, said the judge had no other option than to enforce the law. The law on the books at the time clearly provided for jail time as a penalty, he said.

"Moye's order would have been immune from reversal because he was certainly within his discretion to order jail time," Kardell said, adding that after the fact, the governor issued a new COVID-19 order that removed jail as a penalty.

Related story:

Texas Attorney Swept Up in Political Storm Over His Representation of a Jailed Dallas Salon Owner