[5] Prior to politics, James worked as a teacher, athletic director and professor at Essex County College.

[8] In 1977 he led an effort to halt landings of Concorde jets at Newark International Airport, claiming it would add to air and noise pollution in the area.

[9] In 1983, after talk show host Phil Donahue made comments about Newark being "a place foreigners wouldn't want to visit", James demanded an apology.

[11][12] James became known in his early years as mayor for often wearing jogging suits in public and making high-profile efforts to attract development to Downtown Newark.

[13] In 1987 and 1988, James served as the New Jersey chairman of Jesse Jackson's campaign for the 1988 Democratic Party presidential nomination.

[15] In 1996, James's chief of staff, Jackie Mattison, was charged in federal court with receiving over $17,000 in bribes from an insurance broker from Millburn.

On March 16, James filed for reelection as mayor, but announced eleven days later he would not seek a sixth term.

[23] In 2005, a New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request was submitted asking that James hand over a City Hall-issued debit card he had received in 2002.

[25] In a response, James claimed no wrongdoing, and explained that, "as the last of the civil rights mayors in America, I had to travel and sell this city and the world about the Newark success story".

[21] In a press conference regarding the indictment, Christie alleged that James rigged the sale of nine city lots to Riley in a "cut-rate scheme" between 2001 and 2005.

[33] On March 5, prosecutors presented more than a dozen memos from James regarding the land deals, which revealed that he had been monitoring whether city developers he was acquainted with were getting a chance to buy the lots.

She also testified that Tamika Riley had privileged access to James and that City Hall officials were aware they were having an affair.

[34] On April 1, the defense called up former councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins, who testified that the city council set a uniform price for city-owned land for redevelopers and that James had not been involved in the process.

[1] On May 12, the U.S. Attorney's office announced that the remaining charges against James for his misuse of city-issued credits cards had been dropped, thus sparing him of a second trial.

[42] In June 2009, James' attorney Alan Bowman attempted to convince an appellate court to expunge the convictions, although his efforts failed.

[49] On August 17, 2012, the New Jersey Superior Court ruled in favor of the commission and ordered that both James and Johnson had to pay the money back.

[53] That same year, he advised the election campaign of his son John Sharpe James, who won a seat on the Municipal Council of Newark.

[54][53] That same year James endorsed Cory Booker, a former foe he had defeated in the 2002 Newark mayoral race, in the special election for U.S.