[nfb-talk] Fw: [acb-l] Associated Press Reports ACB's Victory Requiring Accessable Currency

[James Aldrich]

Hello all,

Since this subject has come up, here is the material which brought this 
forth.  ACB has advocated for the printing of braille money or some kind of 
identification for our paper currency.  This should be interesting indeed as 
to how it will play out.  No doubt somebody might say that federal judge is 
too pushy and the whole thing could be thrown out.  This is something to be 
watched.

Jim Aldrich


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Mills" <tmills79 at bellsouth.net>
To: <acb-l at acb.org>
Cc: <alabama at acb.org>; "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" 
<blindlaw at nfbnet.org>; <4alabama at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 3:28 PM
Subject: [acb-l] Associated Press Reports ACB's Victory Requiring Accessable 
Currency


Judge: make bills recognizable to blind
11/28/2006, 4:49 p.m. ET
By MATT APUZZO
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - By keeping all U.S. currency the same size and texture,
the government
has denied blind people meaningful access to money, a federal judge said
Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson said the Treasury Department has
violated the
law, and he ordered the government to come up with ways for the blind to
tell bills
apart.
He said he wouldn't tell officials how to fix the problem, but he ordered
them to
begin working on it within 10 days. The American Council of the Blind has
proposed
several options, including printing bills of differing sizes, adding
embossed dots
or foil to the paper or using raised ink.
"Of the more than 180 countries that issue paper currency, only the United
States
prints bills that are identical in size and color in all their
denominations," Robertson
wrote. "More than 100 of the other issuers vary their bills in size
according to
denomination, and every other issuer includes at least some features that
help the
visually impaired."
Government attorneys argued that forcing the Treasury Department to change
the size
of the bills or add texture would make it harder to prevent counterfeiting.
Robertson
was not swayed.
"The fact that each of these features is currently used in other currencies
suggests
that, at least on the face of things, such accommodations are reasonable,"
he wrote.
He said the government was violating the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits
discrimination
on the basis of disability in government programs. The opinion came after a
four-year
legal fight.
"It's a landmark decision. I believe it will benefit millions of people,"
said Jeffrey
A. Lovitky, attorney for plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
© 2006 al.com All Rights Reserved.



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