Posted on 05/20/2008 7:56:57 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
US court: Paper money discriminates against blind
23 minutes ago
A federal appeals court says paper money discriminates against blind people.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has upheld a ruling that could force the U.S. to redesign its money so blind people can distinguish between values.
Such changes could include making bills different sizes, including raised markings or printing oversized numbers for people who see poorly.
The appeals court ruled 2-1 on Tuesday that the U.S. didn't explain why such changes would be an unreasonable burden, especially since many other countries have done so.
Have you ever dealt with the monopoly money of other countries?
Besides you could instantly determine the content of a bankroll seriously disabling the old roll of hundred trick, how humiliating.
Decades worth of Bureau of Engraving and Printing process, since 1929, has been built upon the fact that bills are 6.14 × 2.61 inches, and a full sheet of paper from Crane & Company is 20.88 x 24.56 inches. I think it'd be a much bigger deal than one might think at first.
They are too redeemable, I just redeemed a five dollar bill for a Mexican pizza, a couple of tacos and a drink.
Value of all goods and monies are subject to change, whim, and the perceived value of others. Gold is of no intrinsic value to me, can’t eat it, too heavy to put over my head, blunts easily when fashioned into a spear.
Get used to the fact that values almost everything is only worth what the next guy will give you for it.
Please provide the details if you are going to make an absolute statement.
"... suck it up and stop whining...."
You folks that can't defend your own assertions always have to resort to describing other's contentions as whining, don't you?
This country's founding documents give every citizen the guarantee of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is not the obligation of everyone else to provide it for them so that each citizen can experience their own little utopia.
How about this: let the blind use a debit card or credit card? How about this: if there is enough of a market in the needs of the blind, some creative genius somewhere in the world would be developing products to fill that need. Isn't that a beautiful concept?
Good advice, why don't you take it yourself?
they could always move that holographic number which is a bit of a bump to different parts of the bill.
I hope they do appeal this.
Note Teller 2 is accurate, reliable and easy to operate. Bank notes can be inserted and read in any orientation. It turns on and off quickly and automatically.
http://www.enablemart.com/Catalog/Misc-Low-Vision-Items/Note-Teller-2
“We could encode the money so it can be read by a scanner.”
I think we are already there. Doesn’t new money come with a flat plastic/metal thread that can be read by scanners?
Our drive-up ATM at the bank doesn't discriminate. Figure THAT one out...
I don’t recall me whining in this thread....
The INCOME TAX discriminates against the middle class working people, and the blind.
Is there a lawsuit here?
It is not that hard to put braille on a bill.
It would be difficult to make a car drivable by the blind.
That is the purpose of “reasonable accomodation”.
If it would be too hard to make the bills useful for blind people, the government simply had to make that case to the judge.
Gold maintains its purchasing power.
That is why our founding fathers referred to it as "money."
Paper dollars are not real money.
They are IOU's that at one time could be exchanged for real money. (gold/silver).
The paper bills do not even state that anymore.
They are merely pretty pieces of paper that may or may not be accepted for exchange tomorrow.
An ounce of gold in 1895 would buy you a handmade, tailored men's suit - same as it will today.
You could buy an ounce of gold for $35 in 1895.
35 paper dollars today will not buy you an ounce of gold, or the suit.
You said “It will take billions to replace these”
He said it wouldn’t.
Why is he the only one who has to provide details for his undocumented assertions? Why not both of you provide some information backing up your competing claims?
More then 30 countries have money that includes raised markings which distinguish the denominations. Our current bills have raised areas as part of the anti-counterfeit processing.
BTW, the National Federation for the Blind used to be opposed to “specially marked money” because they felt it sent the wrong message that blind people needed special help. I don’t know if that is still their position.
And it could be that with the special variations in our bills these days, a blind person could learn to distinguish the bills.
There are machines that read bills that are pretty expensive. There are also “braille markers” sold that blind people can use to mark the money they have. It doesn’t help them verify they aren’t being cheated by an incompetent cashier, but once they know what a bill is in their hand, they can mark it with the machine.
If it was an update based on the next design of plates, adding raised marks would be a negligible additional cost to the bills. This would certainly be easier than doing different size bills.
BTW, the ACB (American Council for the Blind) I think support this lawsuit. And I think the National Federation for the Blind still opposes it, but I’m not sure.
Federal appeals court says blind must barter with debit cards.
Makes as much sense if not even more sense....
They need to know how much they are paying for their permit to carry. ; )
You should patent the idea.....little bar code in each corner.......with the numbers also....
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