Court of Appeals Rules that United States Currency Must Be made Accessible To The Blind

On May 20, 2008, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that American currency is inaccessible to the blind. In a two to one decision written by judge Judith w. Rogers, the court ruled that the Treasury is in violation of the rehabilitation act. Rogers compared the inability of blind persons to distinguish currency to a person in a wheelchair not being able to climb stairs. Judge Rogers also pointed out that most other countries have currency that is accessible via tactile means.

This decision concurred with the district court ruling made in 2006 in a lawsuit filed by the American council of the blind against the US Treasury in which judge James Robertson ruled that the Treasury must work to make currency accessible to the blind and that the cost for doing so did not represent an undue burden. ACB officials pointed out that there was no need to change one-dollar bills which make up approximately half of all currency. They also pointed out that changes could be made as part of the normal changes that are made to our currency. For example, currency has undergone two rounds of changes in 1996 and in 2004.

In 2002, ACB filed the original lawsuit. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson argued that blind persons could use credit cards and get help from others to identify currency. He also contended that the costs for making currency accessible would be prohibitive. AS time dragged on, the Treasury tried twice, unsuccessfully to get the lawsuit dismissed. Aural arguments were finally heard in May of 2006. Judge Robertson made his ruling in favor of ACB in November of 2006. He determined that the Treasury was in violation of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. He did not specify how currency should be made accessible. Methods for making currency accessible include using different sizes, raised ink and raised dots. I’ve had the opportunity to check out some of these designs and believe that using different sizes would be the best way to make currency accessible.

The Treasury decided to appeal the district court decision. In today’s ruling, Judge Rogers remanded the case back to Judge Robertson charging him with making a decision as to how American currency should be made accessible. The Treasury must now decide whether or not to appeal this case to the Supreme Court.

“I don’t think we should have to rely on others to tell us what our money is”, said Mitch Pomerantz, president of the American Council of the Blind. I strongly agree with Mitch. I’ve been blind all of my life and have learned to cope with inaccessible currency. But I have an advantage that many other blind persons do not have. If I get bills confused or am unsure of their denomination, I can show them to my sighted wife. I have only been short-changed once that I know of and consider myself lucky. My wife sometimes jokes with me that she could take advantage of my inability to distinguish bills. I look forward to the day when she will no longer be able to make such jokes. I commend the American council of the blind, Our Money Too and other individuals and organizations who have worked to make our currency accessible.

Information for this blog has been taken from the Associated Press, Reuters, the Washington Post and Our Money Too.

For further information, try the following links.

Court Agrees That Paper Money Discriminates Against the Blind

Background on Currency Lawsuit