Joesph V. Cavanugh Jr. is one of the lawyers who represented the Cranston School District in the suit filed against the district by the ACLU over the prayer mural at Cranston High School West.

In an interview, he said that "there's no rush for anyone to appeal" the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lagueux and because of post-decision time frames, a decision could be filed as late as two months from now.

In the meantime, Cavanaugh said the banner has been covered by school officials to comply with the ruling. The district is reportedly going to make the covered banner available to members of the media tomorrow afternoon.

"We're disappointed because we thought that the facts in this case were such that this historic banner could be acceptable under our constitution and we're going to analyze the decision to determine whether it makes sense to appeal to the First Circuit in Boston," Cavanaugh said.

A judgement in the case won't be entered for at least 30 days and the appeal period starts when that happens. The appeal period itself lasts for another 30 days.

Cavanaugh noted that the lawsuit prompted a interesting community debate about faith and religion.

"Even kids in the high school didn't have this on their radar until it was complained about," he said. "Now they're thinking about the relationship of god and virtue in our education environment."

But he said he was dismayed at the tone and vitriol from some people who believe the banner should remain and referred to plaintiff Jessica Ahlquist, a 16-year-old high school student, in derogatory terms.

"It's disheartening that people defending religions would treat people that way," Cavanaugh said.