[blindlaw] National Federation of the Blind Comments on Federal Court Ruling on U.S. Currency

[David Andrews]

We have had the views that we currently hold on 
identifiable money, a long time before the ACB 
filed its suit.  So our position is not to take a 
different position from them.

Dave

At 09:12 PM 11/29/2006, you wrote:
>Doctor Mauer's  argument is totally misplaced around this issue. He is
>arguing for reducing the unemployment rate in the blindness community,
>whereas, the judge's decision centers on the blind gaining access to our
>money. I think it is a stretch in trying to justify such as an opposition to
>this ruling. In this case, I don't believe the NFB is speaking on my behalf
>as one of the nations blind.
>
>    What I gathered from  this press release is the argument that the blind
>is willing to deal with the status quo, and no modifications  are needed. I
>don't believe this is accurate at all. Moreover, making U.S currencies
>accessible has nothing to do with the hiring of the blind in the future, and
>nor does it call for modifying the whole world for the blind. IN fact,
>having accessible currencies will certainly help lowering the unemployment
>rate among the blind as this will add to our level of independence. How many
>times do you go to a major store and found a blind person on the register? I
>submit never, or very rare. Probably 1 out of a million. The reason for that
>is because no companies want to slow down their lines full of busy customers
>for a blind man to verify each bill in a machine. The whole machine business
>is only applicable when the blind person is the sole owner of a store, but
>not to gain employment.
>
>With regards to folding bills, every honest blind person would tell you that
>it is not an effective method for dealing with money. Because there isn't a
>better method out there, one should use it, but it is not efficient. When I
>purchase something and get $20 back, for example, the cashier won't want to
>put up with my request to help me sort out the bills so I can fold them,
>when there are 70 people in line waiting to pay for their merchandize. In
>cases like this, I have to get someone to read me the bills, or scan them so
>I can fold them for later access. This is the problem that the judge is
>acknowledging, which Dr. Mauer is denying.
>
>     In addition, I found the arguments to be somewhat circular. First, Dr.
>Mauer  argued that there is no accessibility problem in identifying bills,
>and that the judge's order is not necessary. He attempts to justify this by
>arguing that the blind can adapt to the problem by folding each bill
>differently, and there are machines out there to identify the bills. Why do
>we need to do all that and still see ourselves as equal citizens?   If you
>say to the sighted that a blind organization is opposing this ruling, they
>will either have a hard time understanding it, or they will think blind
>people are crazy.
>
>We need to learn to give credit where credit is due, and stop portraying
>ourselves as the only organization that can bring change. I think this is
>the justification for opposing this ruling after all. Because it is the ACB
>who litigated the issue, not the NFB, then we have to oppose it. As others
>have said, this is nothing, but counterproductive. No one should want to let
>the general public be aware of the unhealthy relationship that exists
>between the two organizations, it is simply bad PR in the way of progress.
>
>Rod  -
>From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>Behalf Of David Andrews
>Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 4:53 PM
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>Subject: [blindlaw] National Federation of the Blind Comments on Federal
>Court Ruling on U.S. Currency
>
>          National Federation of the Blind Comments
>
>
>on Federal Court Ruling on U.S. Currency
>
>
>
>
>Views Effort as Dangerously Misguided
>
>
>
>Baltimore, Maryland (November 29, 2006): The
>National Federation of the Blind, the largest
>organization of blind persons in America and
>known as the voice of the nation's blind,
>criticized as dangerously misguided a federal
>court ruling saying that the design of U.S.
>currency discriminates against the blind.
>
>
>
>Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National
>Federation of the Blind, said: "The blind need
>jobs and real opportunities to earn money, not
>feel-good gimmicks that misinform the public
>about our capabilities.  Blind people transact
>business with paper money every day.  This ruling
>puts a roadblock in the way of solving the real
>problem, which is the seventy percent
>unemployment rate among working-age blind
>Americans that severely limits our access to
>cash.  The ruling will do nothing to alleviate
>that situation; in fact, it seriously endangers
>the ability of the blind to get jobs and
>participate fully in society.  It argues that the
>blind cannot handle currency or documents in the
>workplace and that virtually everything must be
>modified for the use of the blind.  An employer
>who believes that every piece of printed material
>in the workplace must be specially designed so
>that the blind can read it will have a strong
>incentive not to hire a blind person."
>
>
>
>Maurer went on to enumerate the real needs for
>access to information by the blind and made a
>distinction between those needs and the issue of
>identifying currency.  "Access to information of
>all kinds, such as that contained on Internet Web
>sites and in the press, is certainly critical to
>the ability of the blind to become productive
>members of society.  Blind students need
>educational materials in Braille and other
>alternative formats so that they can prepare for
>employment and ultimately earn an income for
>themselves and their families.  Given the urgent
>need for access to the kind of information that
>is required for success in America's information
>economy, the matter of identifying the
>denominations of paper bills is of relatively little concern."
>
>
>
>Blind people traditionally identify paper
>currency by folding bills of different
>denominations in different ways.  "In reality,
>blind people do not routinely find that we have
>been short-changed," Maurer commented.  Machines
>are readily available to identify paper money for
>blind people who run businesses or handle large
>amounts of cash.  "Essentially, the United States
>Treasury has been ordered by the courts to come
>up with a solution for a nonexistent problem," Maurer said.
>
>
>
>The National Federation of the Blind believes
>that with training and opportunity, blind people
>can compete in the world with only minor
>modifications.  The American Council of the
>Blind, which brought the lawsuit against the
>United States Treasury, promotes the view that
>the blind are unable to compete unless the world
>is modified dramatically and specifically for
>blind people, and that the blind must be made
>objects of care and pity rather than equal participants in society.
>
>
>
>John G. Paré Jr.
>Director of Public Relations
>NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
>1800 Johnson Street
>Baltimore, Maryland  21230
>Telephone:  (410) 659-9314, ext. 2371
>Cell phone:  (410) 913-3912
>Fax:  (410) 685-5653
>Email:  jpare at nfb.org
>
>
>
>
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