Yesterday, I attended a court hearing in Parker County where Range Resources is trying to compel me to comply with their subpoena in a case to which I am not a party and with their over-the-top request for correspondence.
ON THEIR SIDE: They had six or seven attorneys, one of whom, Andy Sims, gave me the most elaborate, lingering evil eye I have ever received in the doorway outside the courtroom. I’m guessing that was part of their arsenal of intimidation. They also had several assistants in tow.
ON MY SIDE: J. Scott McLain and me.
Who says the average (wo)man doesn’t have equal access to the courts?
They had a 3 or 4 (you know how woman are with depth perception) inch binder full of stuff from my blog and a Powerpoint presentation. In the presentation is a diagram that is supposed to show how I conspired with several other people to defame Range in the Lipsky case.
The most entertaining moment from the presentation was this picture of me taken by Jeff Prince for the FW Weekly.
“Here she is Judge with a militant, upraised fist,” Simms boomed with great theatrical flare.
The judge commented that it was a familiar pose. “Isn’t that Rosie the Riveter from WWI?” he asked.
I never got a copy of that presentation but I would certainly like one. The leaps taken in it are worthy of a gold medal.
Although Range Resources SR VP and General Council said in a letter to Calvin Tillman, “…Range does not seek a deposition based on Ms. Wilson’s writing on her blog,” the questions they asked where almost entirely about writings on my blog. It is clear they are after me for my blog and likely retaliating against me for breaking the PSYOP story. (More about the letter to Calvin Tillman from David Poole HERE)
The most shocking moment was when they asked how much child support I receive. They were trying to establish my income but child support is not considered income. The objection was overruled. As their goons were combing through every single blog post I have ever written and every comment I have ever made on the internet, I guess they missed this post: Look at the face of the working poor. I wrote that before the drilling started very near us and before my property value plummeted. While it is true that using the “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” determination my conservative Republican single mother gave me, I have–only very recently–improved our situation, I started from a deep hole where we lived for three years with no heat and no AC. It was a long climb up.
The most amazing thing about yesterday was the investment Range Resources has in Sharon Wilson. If you add it all up…
- Six attorneys,
- A couple of legal aids
- A tech person to run the slide show
- At least 2 goons who for months have combed through my blog and who currently track everything I say or have ever said on the internet
- Someone(s) to dig through my past and all my financial transactions
- Thick binders full of blog postings
- Assistants and paper and no telling what else…
I can’t help but wonder how much goodwill might have been created in communities by using that money for vapor recovery units or pneumatic valves. Investing in trying to involve me in a conspiracy case where no evidence exists to support that is not a wise investment. You can read the elaborate fairy tale they have constructed in their motion to compel (link fixed) and the appendix that came with it.
Aw well, making poor financial decisions is typical for this industry.
Here is a cartoon for your enjoyment.
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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Range working hard to be the 2nd most despised fracker in the US
Sharon, I’ve never met you in person, but your blog posts have heartened me and strengthened me in our shared struggle. You’re living near Ground Zero and you continue to give us all support, including those like me who are not under immediate threat.
I hope you’re getting spiritual strength and sustenance from all of us who have been so supported by your words. Please email me directly and let me know how I can donate the little bit I can to help.
Please get lots of sleep, eat well, and know we stand with you.
Iillegitimi Non Carborundum
Don’t let the bastards grind you down
Maybe you can be the next Erin Brockovich!
(hope posting this doesn’t make me a party! – although serving me notice in Mexico might prove interesting)
What a bunch of A-holes, that #1RRC. Keep up the good work on your site.
It’s okay, no need to censor yourself. ASSHOLE. Sometimes ASSHAT, and the new people pleaser GASHOLE. Used in a sentence: Range Resources’ General Counsel David Poole is a fracking gashole.
We have a saying around here,
amongst those of us who have been attacked by EID:
The more they go after you,
this means that the more they perceive
that your work is having an effect.
Hang in there, Sharon.
Sharon,
Keep being a champion as Range will continue to be the scum they truly are aspiring—and proving to be. How much have they given Senator Inhoffe for his latest antics to off the EPA administrator from his post if they used that much money against you?
Range Resources can hire all the bozo attorneys, legal aides, paper pushers, paper carriers and useful idiots to fetch binders from Office Depot all they want, and are perfectly happy to spend tens of thousands on what amounts to nothing more than an off-Broadway show at best. There’s one thing that Range Resources cannot buy is to buy back all of the incredibly stupid things they have said and done over the years.
I’m proud of you, Sharon, for not only sticking up for yourself, but for many. many others as well. There are untold amounts of people that have been negatively impacted by just Range Resources alone.
I hope the Psyop story comes out in court-perhaps Matt Pitzarella can explain to the judge how you doctored those videos and audio recordings from their little gashole conference.
Sharon,
All that attention in an attempt to scare a private citizen from providing a format for freedom of speech. These great Anerican corporations that wrap themselves in the American flag while they stomp on the basic principles and people’s lives. Big Oil and Gas and all their money and their pitiful cohorts who will do anything for money, greed and power have a special place someday. To all of them I do not know how you look yourself in the mirror. Just paid to do your job heh? What a way to make a living.
Sharon we stand with you!
Sounds like a second amendment issue to me. Where are all the tea party people who value the constitution?
Range resources is Asshole, Scum, lowlifes, bullies, poor industry leaders, liars, and money whores. They arecreating more and more enemies for the natural gas industry with every dirt trick they pull so maybe you industry boys who read this post should call them and tell them to cool it. Range is making you all look like bullies and assholes.
Waste money on a goose chase. So, they must have money to burn, especially in a low priced gas market.
I read some of these docs, like the Motion to compel and your information. A wild thought crossed my mind–could it be that all these Range lawyers (including Poole) has joined hands and are just playing the game to suck up money from Range and drain them dry before they go belly-up? Have seen such scheemes happen.
Also, when has it become a sin for a private citizen to communicate with a government agency? If that ever becomes illegal in a democrady, we are going down the tubes!!
It’s amazing what the Gas Mafia will try to convice our oil soaked Tx courts to do against an ordinary citizen–and we are funding (with our tax money) these Tx courts–WOW.
OOOOOPPPPS First Admendment.
Child support is not income. It’s not reported to the IRS as income. So, they should not have been allowed that question.
You have defamed them, as was your intention. You and your blog wereis judge, jury, and executioner. Not lookinto good for you TSSharon. Stand tough but let that be a lesson to the rest of yous out there.
Hey George, it sounds like you are trying to crucify Sharon and use her as an example. Seems to me I just read someone lost their jobs for that. Maybe you are the one who needs to learn a lesson.
Grow up, George. Shining a bright light on bad actors such as Range Resources is not defaming them; they have already defamed themselves with their exposed deceptive practices, lawsuits, lies, half-truths and a long series of bad acts.
Hey George – either lay off the booze or use a spell-checker!
George, if you want to follow a very narrow definition, then pick up a copy of something like “Car and Driver”, and look at all the defamation there, in the reviews. Pointing out an issue is not defamation.
George–looks to me like Sharon has undergone and suffered a whole bunch of deformation of character, expenses and is due punitive damages all because of bogus filings of papers at a crooked Tx court. She may need a big ‘ole tin can to house the money she is due because of damages from Poole & Co and other associates.
Sharon: We need a ‘LIKE’ button alongside ‘reply’.
To say nothing of being threatened on YouTube & other places. I wonder if them Lawyers have the courage to ask about that?
Defamation? First we have to grant that a corporation is a “person.” (Well, ok.) Then, we have to figure out whether its public. (Heck, yeah. It’s got investors.) Then, there’s proving malice and a reckless disregard for the truth.
It’s a multiple-choice answer, class. Hint: all answers are correct. A) Curious George and the Absence of Malice; B) Curious George’s Big Adventure with the First Amendment; or C) Curious George and a Barrel More Monkeys in the Room.
The “pit bull” lawyers never expected to be successful with this endeavor – not in legal terms. Their unstated goal is to spread fear. Any attempt to publicly diminish the doctrine “Supremacy of Mineral Rights” must be met with intimidation.
The new “Corporate Person” is standing on every corner, reading every blog, and like a new born and deadly virus, is ready to destroy any and every attack on its empire.
Right on Charllie, above. We are living in a new world–and it’s scary. Ordinary citizens better “botten up” and lay low! Be scared.
Please contact me via e-mail for any assistance that I may be able to provide. Assistance, especially that of a software/database/”big data” nature, will be provided gratis. I have a formidable array of computing assets, both local and “in the cloud,” that I will happily dedicate to your needs. This is not a posting specific to just the “Range Resources” issue(s), it is a generic offering of help (especially of an IT nature).
In addition, where is your “Donate” button?
This may not really be relevant, but it sort of reminds me of a dream I had not long ago. I was on my way to Rosston (where they are doing massive drilling) and suddenly I was surrounded by police, SWAT teams and black helicopters. I stopped and asked them what I had done wrong. They said they had 22 counts against me…the most serious one being I was always late picking up my mail. Seemed a bit like overkill to me. Gotta laugh sometimes at how absurd it has all gotten.
I can totally relate to that dream.
Sharon Wilson is not only a real person but stands for an idea. You cannot sue or defame an idea that has the people’s best interest in mind. Range Resources know that the tides are turning against them and think stopping Sharon early will prevent more damaging info from getting out.
Too late RR, you can hire all the gutless lawyers you want, the people will make a stand eventually and you will lose.
Stand strong Sharon, you have A LOT of people behind you.