Appeals court calls for end of federal oversight of state hiring that’s been in place for 50 years – Chicago Tribune/MSN

“In no way are we saying that the risk of unlawful political patronage no longer exists within Illinois,” a two-judge panel wrote in its ruling. “Of course it does: nobody is naive to the state’s embarrassing history.” But the court found that reforms instituted under Pritzker and his predecessor, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, have satisfied the requirements of the consent decree and that continuing to enforce it “is no longer warranted or tolerable.”