We sick puppies have to stick together. :)
Posted on 11/28/2006 6:43:14 PM PST by Elyse
WASHINGTON — American paper money represents an unfair impediment to the blind, and the Treasury Department must come up with new U.S. currency to help the visually impaired use cash, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson said keeping all U.S. currency the same size and texture violates the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in government programs.
"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 in his ruling. "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."
Day Al-Mohamed, director of advocacy and government affairs at the American Council of the Blind, said that most of the world's currency is distinguished by color, size, perforations or tactile symbols. The Euro, for instance, can be determined by the length of the bill — the higher the denomination the longer the bill.
"Saudi Arabia has money that varies in size based on denomination," she said. "If so many other countries can do it, why not the greatest country in the world?"
"It's exciting from our perspective. It's an area that doesn't get a lot of attention. I give ACB a lot of credit for hanging in there," said Andrew Imperato, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities. "Hopefully it's just going to make blind people able to live more independently."
But John Paré, director of public relations for the National Federation of the Blind, the nation's largest organization representing blind people, said identifying the money is hardly the most difficult obstacle for the blind to overcome."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I've read this a couple of times now and I'm still amazed at it. In my experience, the blind people I've seen handling money do it with relative ease. The bills are folded different ways so they know which denomination is which or they have someone with them that can see.
My question is how much is this going to cost the taxpayer? Seems to me printing bills all the same size saves money. Having to set up new print plates in different sizes would cost more than plates of one size, right?
It's time to start aborting Lawyers. They just grow up to be Judges and Politicians.
tell the judge he can pay for the changeover in paper stocks from his salary and see how fast he backtracks
You may fly to Stockholm to correct your prize...
...except, of course, that I'm in Brooklyn, so that would be silly.
We sick puppies have to stick together. :)
Where does this judge get the AUTHORITY to order anyone to do anything?
I don't understand this.
Well, this "idiot" knows very well that federal agencies such as the Federal Reserve are subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Look at the Americans with Disabilities Act. Obviously, printing and issueing the current legal tender is an "activity" that discriminates blind people.
8-)
TS
Last Christmas I received a new wallet, made by Dockers. It's very nice, but just isn't long enough to hold U.S. currency without extra effort stuffing it in. I've been wondering if Chinese money is smaller than ours or what.
In mainland China the smaller denomination bills (1,5,10,20,50) are smaller , but the larger ones over 100 are longer and wider than US bills.
In Hong Kong the paper money is really freaky. Three separate banks can officially print money in any style they want, so any given denomination can be in 3 different sizes and colors.
Different denominations of U. S. paper money used to be different sizes, until the new designs of the past few years.
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