[blindlaw] Judge rules money to be accessible to the blind

Wed Nov 29 10:33:03 CST 2006

Resolution 2002-25

WHEREAS, on May 2, 2002, the American Council of the Blind (ACB) and two 
individual plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the

secretary of the treasury of
the United States and the treasurer of the United States alleging that the 
federal government is in violation of Section 504

of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973 as amended, 29 U.S.C. Section 794, by issuing all U.S. currency in 
an identical size, color, and texture, which

renders various denominations indistinguishable
by touch, alleging that the blind are thus largely excluded from enjoying 
the benefits of monetary transactions and seeking

declaratory and injunctive
relief by requiring the Department of the Treasury to implement design 
changes in the currency to make the various

denominations distinguishable by touch
and color; and

WHEREAS, this lawsuit is based on a false and misleading assumption that the 
inability to distinguish banknote denominations

by touch largely excludes the
blind from participating in commerce and other ordinary activities of life; 
and

WHEREAS, the theory of this suit is disproved by the lives of tens of 
thousands of blind persons who live normal lives and

participate in commerce every
day without difficulty; and

WHEREAS, more than having difficulty with money, blind people are apt to 
suffer great harm from the attendant publicity

surrounding this suit, fostering
and reinforcing the notion that the blind cannot easily handle currency as 
it now exists and, for example, needlessly

creating an albatross around the
neck of any blind person seeking employment in any position involving 
handling money; and

WHEREAS, to the extent that currency identification is truly a problem for 
individual blind people, various technological

devices capable of identifying
banknotes and audibly announcing their denomination are available for sale, 
and in fact giving every blind person in the

country such a device would be
simpler and cheaper than re-engineering the nation's cash-handling capacity; 
and

WHEREAS, in view of its false premise and lack of merit, there is little 
likelihood that the relief sought by this lawsuit

will ever be granted, thus using
the blind in a publicity stunt and showing little regard for the genuine 
needs and concerns of blind people; and

WHEREAS, more than the adverse publicity resulting from the filing of this 
suit itself, there is a substantial risk of a

ruling that could nullify the potential
benefits of Section 504 by narrowing its scope and coverage or over-turning 
the law altogether, as has happened with other

recent court decisions in the
area of disability: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention 
assembled this ninth day of July, 2002, in the City of

Louisville, Kentucky, that this
organization take all appropriate and legally available steps to advise the 
court that the failure to have U.S. currency

issued as sought by the plaintiffs
in this suit is not an act of discrimination against the blind and in such a 
fashion that the accompanying ruling does not

harm current and future efforts
to achieve genuinely needed and desirable accommodations for the blind; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization take steps to counter the 
adverse effects of the harmful publicity arising from

this particular lawsuit and
renew efforts to educate the public that the blind can participate in 
commerce on equal terms and fully enjoy the benefits of

U.S. currency as it now exists.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephanie Ortoleva" <womankind at earthlink.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 3:41 AM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Judge rules money to be accessible to the blind

Can you please explain this policy.  Makes no sense to me.At 02:46 AM
11/29/2006, you wrote:

>NFB has a resolution opposing "accessible" currency so we *should*
>participate in an appeal. The resolution *does* suggest an alternative --
>mass purchasing of money identifiers.
>
>Mike
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Angie Matney" <angie at mpmail.net>
>To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 8:00 PM
>Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Judge rules money to be accessible to the blind
>
>
>OK, here's my opinion, for what it's worth.
>
>This isn't the most important issue we're dealing with--not by a long shot.
>But I really, really hope the NFB doesn't participate in an appeal of this
>ruling. This will eventually come to pass, and I'm not completely convinced
>it shouldn't. Do
>we **need** it? No, not in the way we need power to *earn* money. Will it
>enrich people's lives? Absolutely.
>
>I read the district court judge's ruling (there's a link to it in the
>article). It's fascinating. Some of the objections by the department of the
>treasury seem to be based on a belief that they are "above" accessibility
>and the law. They argue
>they are not covered by section 504. According to the judge, they
>misrepresented facts to make it look like this will be more expensive to
>implement than it actually would be.
>
>So, again, while I don't view accessible currency as something that's very
>important, I don't think it needs to be appealed, since these featuers will
>eventually be incorporated into currency anyway.
>
>I'll post the ruling if anybody wants to read the whole thing.
>
>Angie
>
>
>
>On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:44:07 -0500, Rod Alcidonis  wrote:
>
> >I love the ruling. Other countries are doing it, why not the U.S?
>
> >Rod
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> >Behalf Of Sceach Blackwolf
> >Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 6:44 PM
> >To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
> >Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Judge rules money to be accessible to the blind
>
> >At first I was scornful of this idea (yeesh, fold your money!) but I've
> >come
> >to like the idea. Maybe it will cut down on blind people being ripped 
> >off.
>
> >CT
>
> >On 11/28/06, dlb723 <dlb723 at comcast.net> wrote:
> >>
> >> Judge says Treasury Department is violating the law by keeping all 
> >> money
> >> the same size and feel.
> >> November 28 2006: 5:30 PM EST
> >>
> >> NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A federal judge has ruled that the U.S.
> >> Treasury Department is violating the law by failing to design and issue
> >> currency that
> >> is readily distinguishable to blind and visually impaired people.
> >>
> >> Judge James Robertson, in a ruling on a suit by the American Council of
> >> the Blind, ordered the Treasury to devise a method to tell bills apart.
> >>
> >> dollar_money_press_print.03.jpg
> >>
> >> The judge wrote that the current configuration of paper money violates
> >> the
> >> Rehabilitation Act's guarantee of "meaningful access."
> >>
> >> "It can no longer be successfully argued that a blind person has
> >> 'meaningful access' to currency if she cannot accurately identify paper
> >> money without assistance,"
> >> Robertson wrote in his ruling.
> >>
> >> He further ruled that finding a solution to the problem would not be an
> >> "undue burden" on the government and ordered the Treasury Department to
> >> begin working
> >> on a solution within 30 days.
> >>
> >> The American Council for the Blind has submitted several alternatives,
> >> including embossing, holes punched in the paper or using 
> >> different-sized
> >> bills for
> >> different denominations.
> >>
> >> The Treasury Department had no comment on the ruling.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> >> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
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>
>
>
>
>
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