[blindlaw] nfb currency resolution from 1994

[Chris Danielsen]

Tim,

Without exhaustive parsing of this resolution and the House resolution and 
debate you posted earlier, I would say off the cuff that both of these 
resolutions were passed when the treasury was actively engaged in the 
process of redesigning currency.  Both the NFB and the House supported 
considering tactile additions to the currency while that redesign process 
was going forward.  However, the NFB did make it clear that we didn't want 
currency changed solely for the sake of the blind, but only if doing so also 
served other purposes; and as the below resolution indicates, we never 
wanted the public to get the idea that the blind couldn't handle currency as 
it is.  Furthermore, though the segment of the Congressional record you 
posted indicates support for feasible tactile changes to the currency, its 
sponsor didn't support "radical" redesign of the currency.

For me, at least, the crux of the problem with the recent court decision is 
that it says currency "discriminates" against the blind.  Discrimination is 
a strong word; it implies that the group being discriminated against is 
barred from having or doing something.  Furthermore, the court said the 
blind are denied "meaningful access" to the currency by the way it's 
designed.  The court was trying to apply a balancing test whereby access has 
to be considered, but also whether an accommodation is reasonable.  I 
understand the court's reasoning, but to me, "meaningful" access goes to the 
question of whether blind people can use paper money.  We can, and have done 
so for years.  I do think Treasury probably hasn't done its due diligence on 
this issue (especially given its rather lame arguments before the court), 
and there mnay be all sorts of good reasons, including helping the blind, to 
change the money.  But to say that the blind can't use paper money unless 
it's changed, and that this alone means it must be changed, seems to me to 
be going overboard.

Chris

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ford, Tim (DHS-OLS)" <TFord at dhs.ca.gov>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2006 6:37 PM
Subject: [blindlaw] nfb currency resolution from 1994


>From another list.  With this, and the 1997 Congressional resolution, it
seems that the current position on accessible currency has gone through
a fair amount of change.

 -----Original Message-----
From: disability-civil-rights at yahoogroups.com
[mailto:disability-civil-rights at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of joe harcz
Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2006 1:21 PM
To: blind democracy List
Cc: acb-chat at acb.org; Michigan Comm for the Blind Vision 20/20 List
Subject: [disability-civil-rights] nfb currency resolution from 1994



NFB Currency Resolution 1994 (Res. 94-07)

Resolution 94-07



WHEREAS, the United States Department of the Treasury is examining
alternatives to the present currency for the purposes of making
counterfeiting more difficult

and for making currency more compatible with modern technology; and



WHEREAS, revisions to the present currency may include variations in
color, raised markings, bar coding, or other electronically readable
formats; and



WHEREAS, it is a widespread misconception that blind people cannot
handle their own money because they cannot see it; and



WHEREAS, it is beyond dispute that blind people can, in fact, handle
their own money; however, bills which can be identified by other than
conventional

print could be more convenient for everyone, may be a necessity to
safeguard against counterfeiting, and may be desirable to take the best
advantage of

evolving technology: Now, therefore,



BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
assembled this seventh day of July, 1994, in the City of Detroit,
Michigan, that this

organization express the interest of blind people in the discussion of a
modernized form of currency so that any changes which may eventually be
made will

include methods of identifying money by other than strictly visual
means; and



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Federation, notwithstanding its
expressed interest in the ultimate decisions on currency changes, do all
in its power correctly

to inform the public that blind people can and do successfully handle
money in its present form.

http://www.nfb.org/Images/nfb/Publications/convent/resol94.htm

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