An appeals court has ruled that a Nativity scene outside a former Indiana courthouse is constitutional, marking the latest (and most disastrous) twist in a long-running saga.

Some background is helpful here: All of this takes place in the city of Brownstown at the site of the Jackson County Courthouse. A couple of years ago, the court moved to another location nearby and the old building was converted to office space. The county’s treasurer, auditor, surveyor, and many others now work out of there.

In any case, starting around 2003, the Jackson County Commissioners approved a Christian Nativity display outside the building and it’s gone up around the holidays every year since. (Technically, it’s owned by the Brownstown Ministerial Association but it’s on government property.) There are lights nearby so that people can see it in the evenings, and that electricity is paid for by the government. Until 2018, this was unmistakably a pro-Christian display: