WMAQ Channel 5 - Editorial 5 - "Political Patronage Decision" (1979)

Here's an editorial by Dillon Smith, Editorial Director of WMAQ Channel 5, standing outside the Kluczynski Federal Building.

In this editorial, he gives his opinion and analysis on a recent court decision by Federal Judge Nicholas J. Bua that ruled that Chicago's and Cook County's political patronage system - where government jobs were given to Democrats who pledged their allegiance to political precinct bosses over equally qualified Republicans whose allegiance was to the people, thus giving Democrats an unfair advantage in elections and the city's overall political structure - was unconstitutional.

Smith notes Democrats' unhappiness with the ruling and their intentions to appeal (they would ultimately succeed in having Judge Bua's ruling overturned by an appeals court in 1987), but in essence he applauds the ruling, noting that it would result in better government.

Ending title card:

Editorial 5
Dillon Smith - Editorial Director
Monte Newman - General Manager

This aired on local Chicago TV in 1979.

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