By Tom Hester
Associated Press
It was classic New Jersey -- a newly convicted lawmaker leaves a federal courthouse and climbs into a car adorned with a license plate proclaiming "former senator."
The black Cadillac belonged to Sharpe James, the former Newark mayor and state senator who last week became the latest New Jersey public official to be convicted on federal corruption charges.
James now faces a lengthy stint in jail, but he still enjoys one of the perks of holding state office in the Garden State -- a special license plate that lets the world know he once served in the state Legislature.
The plates, for fancy measure, come emblazoned with the official state shield.
New Jersey is among only a handful of states to offer special plates to retired lawmakers. Former legislators -- and former mayors -- can pay $50 to get them.
Kevin Cranston of the state Motor Vehicle Commission said 43 plates have been issued to former legislators.
And one avid New Jersey political observer isn't surprised by the attention-drawing plates.
"I'm the type of driver who doesn't want people distracted by studying my license plate when they should be looking where they're driving," said Peter Woolley, a Fairleigh Dickinson University political scientist. "But vanity plates are called that for a reason, and politicians spend a lifetime calling attention to themselves."
According to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, many states don't offer special plates to former legislators. Those that do include California, Missouri, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, said Jason King, an association spokesman.
New Jersey offers the special plates under a 1999 law that initially proposed them only for retired mayors. The law was amended on the Assembly floor to include former legislators, thus giving them another privilege atop the taxpayer-funded pension and health benefits they also receive.
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