Governor Blagojevich hasn’t done all that well with the courts, especially since he tried to freeze judicial pay. This is, if I’m not mistaken, his first real win since he took office.

Former Gov. George Ryan had no right to hand out long-term high-paying state jobs to his friends as he left office, and Gov. Blagojevich had every right to fire Ryan’s midnight appointments, a state appellate court ruled Friday.

The ruling reversed the state’s Civil Service Commission and the Cook County Circuit Court, which had reinstated the employees after Blagojevich fired them.

“That’s good news,” said Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff. “The court’s decision ensures that these important civil service positions are filled by the most qualified people, not the most well-connected.”

Attorneys for the 16 Ryan appointees remaining on the state payroll — including Ryan’s former spokesman David Urbanek, now being paid $99,000 a year by the Capital Development Board — hope to file an appeal Monday morning before the Blagojevich administration can evict them from their offices.