Legal Research

American paper currency has long been a problem for the blind and visually impaired.  Those of you who have seen Ray probably remember the scene where Ray Charles insists on always being paid in singles, because it was the only way he could trust that he was being paid the correct amount. 

The New York Times reported last week on a court ruling that has the potential to change the size or feel of our currency:

The 2-to-1 decision, by a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, held that the Treasury Department had failed to demonstrate that it would be too burdensome to make bills of different sizes or add features that could be read by touch to distinguish monetary value.

?A large majority of other currency systems have accommodated the visually impaired, and the secretary does not explain why U.S. currency should be any different,? Judge Judith W. Rogers wrote for herself and Judge Thomas B. Griffith, referring to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., the nominal defendant.

What happens next is not certain. The government could appeal to the full 13-member appeals court (one of whose judges, David S. Tatel, is blind), or it could seek quick review by the Supreme Court, a step it has 90 days to take.