Jimmy Marks

Jimmy Marks (February 14, 1945 – June 27, 2007) was a Romani American who lived in Spokane, Washington. He referred to himself as a "Rom".[1]

For the Royal Air Force officer, see Jimmy Marks (RAF officer).

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. The police claimed that 35 items were from burglaries.[2]

The Marks' 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,[3] and after 11 years the case was settled out of court for $1.43 million.[1] The lawsuit has been cited as a landmark case in the civil rights of Romani Americans .[4]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2007-07-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "American Gypsy". www.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  3. Geranios, Nicholas K. (2007-06-30). "Jimmy Marks; Fought for Gypsy Rights". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  4. "Jimmy Marks, Gypsy leader noted for his curse and 1986 raid, dies at 62". 2007-06-28.
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