Cook County clerk's office released from court oversight

At a hearing that lasted barely 10 minutes, a federal judge released Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough from court oversight of hiring and promotions in her office, ending a 54-year-old lawsuit that led to a sea change in Illinois politics and largely ended patronage hiring.

The order was lifted by U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang, the sixth judge to preside over the lawsuit filed in 1969 by Michael Shakman, a Democrat who claimed the army of patronage workers holding government jobs thwarted his bid to become a delegate to the party convention.

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