Little-Acorn
Gold Member
I guess it was inevitable.
Once the Fed govt decided it had to take cae of people with disabilities, and throw the weight of government behind efforts to protect them from their own problems, it was just a matter of time before the courts started rebuilding all of society to conform to their needs. No matter the cost, no matter the needs of the rest of society, no matter the Constitutional prohibitions against the Fed getting involved at all.
Looks like one more step in that neverending process, is being taken.
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http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/28/D8LMC4600.html
Judge: Make Bills Recognizable to Blind
Nov 28 6:10 PM US/Eastern
By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
The government discriminates against blind people by printing money that all looks and feels the same, a federal judge said Tuesday in a ruling that could change the face of American currency.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson ordered the Treasury Department to come up with ways for the blind to tell bills apart. He said he wouldn't tell officials how to fix the problem, but he ordered them to begin working on it.
The American Council of the Blind has proposed several options, including printing bills of differing sizes, adding embossed dots or foil to the paper or using raised ink.
"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. "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."
Government attorneys argued that forcing the Treasury Department to change the size of the bills or add texture would make it harder to prevent counterfeiting. Robertson was not swayed.
"The fact that each of these features is currently used in other currencies suggests that, at least on the face of things, such accommodations are reasonable," he wrote.
He said the government was violating the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in government programs. The opinion came after a four-year legal fight.
Electronic devices are available to help blind people differentiate between bills, but many complain that they are slow, expensive and unreliable. Visually impaired shoppers frequently rely on store clerks to help them.
"It's just frankly unfair that blind people should have to rely on the good faith of people they have never met in knowing whether they've been given the correct change," said Jeffrey A. Lovitky, attorney for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
(Full text of the article can be read at the above URL)
Once the Fed govt decided it had to take cae of people with disabilities, and throw the weight of government behind efforts to protect them from their own problems, it was just a matter of time before the courts started rebuilding all of society to conform to their needs. No matter the cost, no matter the needs of the rest of society, no matter the Constitutional prohibitions against the Fed getting involved at all.
Looks like one more step in that neverending process, is being taken.
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/28/D8LMC4600.html
Judge: Make Bills Recognizable to Blind
Nov 28 6:10 PM US/Eastern
By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
The government discriminates against blind people by printing money that all looks and feels the same, a federal judge said Tuesday in a ruling that could change the face of American currency.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson ordered the Treasury Department to come up with ways for the blind to tell bills apart. He said he wouldn't tell officials how to fix the problem, but he ordered them to begin working on it.
The American Council of the Blind has proposed several options, including printing bills of differing sizes, adding embossed dots or foil to the paper or using raised ink.
"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. "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."
Government attorneys argued that forcing the Treasury Department to change the size of the bills or add texture would make it harder to prevent counterfeiting. Robertson was not swayed.
"The fact that each of these features is currently used in other currencies suggests that, at least on the face of things, such accommodations are reasonable," he wrote.
He said the government was violating the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in government programs. The opinion came after a four-year legal fight.
Electronic devices are available to help blind people differentiate between bills, but many complain that they are slow, expensive and unreliable. Visually impaired shoppers frequently rely on store clerks to help them.
"It's just frankly unfair that blind people should have to rely on the good faith of people they have never met in knowing whether they've been given the correct change," said Jeffrey A. Lovitky, attorney for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
(Full text of the article can be read at the above URL)
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