The Supreme Court ruled today that a congressional resolution apologizing for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893 did not strip the state of its authority to sell or transfer about 1.2 million acres of land.

The court's unanimous decision overturns a ruling by the Hawaii Supreme Court that blocked the sale of land conveyed to Hawaii when it became the 50th state.

After years of legal wrangling, the state court last year halted sales of the "ceded lands" until Native Hawaiian claims to those lands are put to rest. The acreage represents more than a quarter of the islands.

The ruling can be downloaded at the following site: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08slipopinion.html.

Office of Hawaiian Affairs Administrator Clyde Namu'o said he is confident that the Hawaii court, when it gets the case back, "will issue the same kind of rulilng" barring the state from selling ceded lands except relying not on the Apology resolution, but state laws that echoed the language of the resolution.