GOULD, AR - A proposed ordinance would even extend to residents’ own homes and is so broad in its reach that it covers boy scout groups and book clubs. Even dinner table conversations about the local community would technically be outlawed. "I couldn't believe that it was real when I first read it," said UALR School of Law Dean John DiPippa. Disbelief is a common reaction to Gould's latest city ordinances. "The truth is the city of Gould doesn't have the authority to tell anyone that they have no right to petition them, no right to speak and no right to exist in their city," said DiPippa. But that's just what the ordinances do - disbanding a citizens group, forbidding the Mayor from meeting with people and stopping any groups from forming if members discuss the city without council approval.
"The fact is, if it's aimed at this group, it also extends to you talking to your mother or a church group or any other group that wants to form. A garden club! It's so broad that it can't possible comply with the First Amendment," said DiPippa.
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