Rejecting an American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio lawsuit, a federal judge ruled yesterday that Ohio may continue using its official motto, "With God, all things are possible," and inscribe it on a Statehouse sidewalk.

But District Judge James L. Graham also ruled that the state, in using the motto, may not attach a citation attributing its words to the Christian New Testament.

The Ohio law designating the motto doesn’t include a biblical citation, and no citation was included in the bronze lettering, now awaiting installation, that will spell out the motto at the foot of the Statehouse’s western entrance. Some state users have included a citation when printing the motto, however, Graham said.

Mark B. Cohn, the Greater Cleveland lawyer who argued the case for the ACLU of Ohio, said he didn’t yet know if his clients would appeal. "I’m very dissapointed. We thought. . .we had presented a strong legal argument," he said.

Gov. George V. Voinovich welcomed the ruling and said inscribing the motto would reflect "the spiritual foundation of our democratic principles."

The motto, adopted in 1959 by the General Assembly, was suggested by a Cincinnati school pupil, James Mastronardo, then age 12, and taken from a passage in the Gospel of St. Matthew. The motto attracted little notice until Voinovich called for inscribing it on one of the Statehouse’s outer walls. In an artistic compromise, he later agreed to place the motto in the sidewalk.

The ACLU and the Rev. Matthew Peterson, associate pastor of Fairmount Presbyterian Church, sued, arguing that the motto breached the separation of church and state. They askd Graham to declare the motto unconstitutional and ban its use.

But Graham ruled that the motto doesn’t suggest any denominational preference or list a principle unique to Christianity.

After citing such federal practices as congressional prayers; the words “In God We Trust” on coins and the official designation of Thanksgiving, Graham said, "It is entirely proper for the state to inscribe the motto . . . at the entrance to its state capitol . . . and to use it in like manner on official documents."