St. Eve and Wood CHICAGO – U.S. Seventh Circuit appellate judges blessed a nativity scene on public ground on Feb. 2, finding a proper balance between it and secular objects next to it. Circuit judges Amy St. Eve and Diane Wood ruled that Jackson County, Indiana didn’t commit establishment of religion by sponsoring the display. St. Eve wrote that it fit within “a long national tradition of using the nativity scene in broader holiday displays to celebrate the origins of Christmas, a public holiday.” Dissenting Circuit Judge David Hamilton wrote, “It’s not as simple as counting whether there are more shepherds and angels than elves and snowmen.”