Half a century and six U.S. judges later, court oversight of state hiring ends — but lawyer Shakman says it’s too soon

Michael Shakman — the lawyer, who fought political hiring in city, county and state government and won the decree named for him — shown with his court filings in 1978, (Sun-Times archives)

A federal appeals court on Friday ruled in favor of Gov. J.B. Pritzker in his bid to end judicial oversight of the state’s employment practices under the Shakman decree — a decision the decree’s namesake himself doesn’t agree with.

Pritzker moved to vacate the half-century-old Shakman decree with state lawyers telling the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals that “there is no evidence the state is considering political factors in hiring today.”