Appeals Court Upholds Ruling That Paper Money Discriminates Against the Blind

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals holds 2-1 today that our current paper money constitutes a denial of meaningful access to U.S. currency for blind people. Hans Bader disagrees with the court:

The appeals court wrongly gave short shrift to the burden imposed on third parties, suggesting that it did not even need to be considered, even though other federal court rulings recognize that an institution is not required to accommodate a disability or religious practice if doing so would unduly burden third parties. ...As Judge Randolph noted in dissent, “There are approximately 7,000,000 food and beverage vending machines in the United States; by one estimate, it would cost $3.5 billion to retool or replace these machines.”

Case pending:
Graham Institute of Missouri Paraplegic Studies, et al. v. City of New York -- Alleging that Central Park discriminates against the wheelchair bound; saying it must be entirely paved over.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 04:08 PM

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