Court says money discriminates against blind people

[Dos Equis]

May 20, 11:08 AM EDT

Court says money discriminates against blind people  

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. discriminates against blind people by printing paper money that makes it impossible for them to distinguish the bills' value, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The ruling upholds a decision by a lower court in 2006. It could force the Treasury Department to redesign its money. Suggested changes have ranged from making bills different sizes to printing them with raised markings.

The U.S. acknowledges that the design hinders blind people but it argued they had adapted -some relied on store clerks for help, some used credit cards and others folded certain corners to help distinguish the bills.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that such adaptations were insufficient. The government might as well argue that, since handicapped people can crawl on all fours or ask for help from strangers, there's no need to make buildings wheelchair accessible, the court said.

The court also ruled that the U.S. failed to explain why changing the money would be an undue burden. The Treasury Department has redesigned its currency several times in recent years and adding features to aid the blind would come at a relatively small cost, the court said.

Other countries have added such features, the court said, and the U.S. never explained what made its situation so unique.
 
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BLIND_MONEY?SITE=HIHAD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[CQ]

I never thought about that, and yes I can see the issues blind people would have.

My father-in-law is blind, but he just strolls to the local stores and gives them his wallet, they take the proper money and give him the wallet back. Everyone knows him, knows he is blind, so they look out for him. Of course, that is tiny island life, where things actually still work like that, but in a large nation it's a whole different ballgame...so yes, unless it's an undue cost, why not slap some braille on bills?

[Dos Equis]

I never thought about that, and yes I can see the issues blind people would have.

My father-in-law is blind, but he just strolls to the local stores and gives them his wallet, they take the proper money and give him the wallet back. Everyone knows him, knows he is blind, so they look out for him. Of course, that is tiny island life, where things actually still work like that, but in a large nation it's a whole different ballgame...so yes, unless it's an undue cost, why not slap some braille on bills?

I never thought about it either.  We have a number of blind vendors here and they are able to distinguish bills by touch. 

[Tre]

The blind vendors and cashiers I've encountered have never had a problem with the cash.  Sounds like the liberals again trying to 'problemize' something that isn't an issue...like when they invaded Appalachia and started telling those hard-working folks how poor and impoverished they were.

[calmus]

I never thought about that, and yes I can see the issues blind people would have.

My father-in-law is blind, but he just strolls to the local stores and gives them his wallet, they take the proper money and give him the wallet back. Everyone knows him, knows he is blind, so they look out for him. Of course, that is tiny island life, where things actually still work like that, but in a large nation it's a whole different ballgame...so yes, unless it's an undue cost, why not slap some braille on bills?

I'm very confused. Now you have a father-in-law too?