Government resists altering money for blind people

Government resists altering money for blind people
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/12/12/bl...ney/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration on Tuesday asked a federal court
to overturn a lower-court ruling requiring the federal government redesign
the nation's paper money to help blind people differentiate between
denominations of bills.

Judge James Robertson of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia ruled last month that the Treasury Department is violating the
law by keeping all paper money the same size and feel, preventing blind
people from distinguishing the amount.

Robertson, in a ruling on a suit by the American Council of the Blind,
ordered the government to come up with a way to tell bills apart.

In its appeal, the Bush administration disagreed with Robertson's ruling
that blind people were denied "meaningful access" to money by the same-sized
bills because portable currency readers exist to help distinguish the bills.
The government also said blind people can use credit and debit cards instead
of cash.

The government also disagreed with Robertson's ruling that making changes
would not impose an "undue burden." The government said that making any
changes to the currency would interfere with mandates to guard against
counterfeiting and would cost too much.

The American Council for the Blind has submitted several alternatives to the
same-sized bills, including embossing, holes punched in the paper or using
different-sized bills for different denominations.

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