Jimmy Marks (February 14, 1945 – June 27, 2007) was a Romani American who lived in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

. He referred to himself as a "Rom". Marks became widely known in 1986 when the Spokane police department raided his home, performed searches, confiscated property, $1.6 million in cash, and $160,000 in jewelry, without a valid

search warrant A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to confiscate any evidence they find. In most countries, ...

. The police claimed that 35 items were from burglaries. The Markses claimed that the cash was being held for other Romani families who did not trust banks. Marks brought suit against the city of Spokane for $59 million, and after 11 years the case was settled out of court for $1.43 million. The lawsuit has been cited as a landmark case in the civil rights of Romani Americans. Due to bringing too much exposure to the Romani community of Spokane, Marks was deemed '' marime'' by the community and therefore an outcast. He was not invited to social events such as weddings and funerals and was refused food when he arrived uninvited.

References

External links

American Gypsy: A Stranger in Everybody's Land
a documentary about Marks by Jasmine Dellal

Spokesman Review Obituary

Seattle Times Obituary

Washington Post Obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Jimmy 2007 deaths American civil rights activists American Romani people American people of Greek-Romani descent Romani activists People from Spokane, Washington 1945 births All articles with dead external links Vlax people Curses