Legal News

D.C. Circuit to Treasury: ?Yer Money?s No Good Here!?

By Dan Slater

Anyone out there see the movie “Ray,” the 2004 biopic of Ray Charles? There’s an early scene in which the blind Charles insists on getting paid in singles so he can weigh the stack and determine whether he’s being stiffed by the band managers.

According to an opinion issued today by the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, that would likely not be an acceptable “coping method” under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Hank Paulson, the Secretary of the Treasury had appealed a declaratory judgment that the Treasury Department’s failure to design and issue paper currency that’s “readily distinguishable to the visually impaired” violates the Act. Paulson’s argument: Coping mechanisms, such as relying on the kindness of strangers, the availability of portable currency readers and credit cards mean there’s no “denial of meaningful access to currency.”

But a 2-1 majority of the Court sided with Patrick Sheehan and Otis Stephens, who constituted The American Counsel of the Blind as plaintiffs in the case. “The current design of paper money springs from the world of the sighted,” wrote Judge Judith Rogers. “The Secretary has identified no reason that requires paper currency to be uniform to the touch. Instead, the fact that U.S. paper currency does not include features that are detectable by the visually impaired appears to have been a result of the type of ‘thoughtlessness and indifference’ that . . .Congress targeted under section 504.”

For a brief discussion of the some of the costs associated with revamping the format of currency, check out pages 11-12 of the opinion. Arguing the case for the National Federation of the Blind was Joseph B. Espo. Jonathan F. Cohn, a deputy assistant attorney general, argued the case for the government.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said that Janice Rogers Brown wrote the opinion for the court. In fact, Judge Judith Rogers wrote the opinion.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on May 20, 2008 (boomark / email).