WASHINGTON — The state's view that Native Hawaiians do not have a claim to land that belonged to the kingdom of Hawai'i before it was overthrown in 1893 is getting support from the U.S. Justice Department.

In a legal brief filed last week with the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Solicitor General Gregory G. Garre argued that when the United States annexed Hawai'i as a territory in 1898, it also accepted absolute ownership of the 1.2 million acres of land owned by the former monarchy. Congress later directed that the income from the land be used for education and other services for the islands' inhabitants.

The federal government passed the clear title of the land, also known as ceded lands, to the state in 1959 when it was admitted to the union, the brief said.

But the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and four Native Hawaiians sued the state in 1994 to block the sale of some of the land, saying their claims to at least a part of the 1.2 million acres must be resolved before any can be sold or transferred.

The Hawai'i Supreme Court ruled in favor of OHA early this year, giving the Native Hawaiians an injunction to stop the sale of 1,500 acres on Maui and the Big Island for housing development.

The state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has scheduled oral arguments for Feb. 25.

The state argues that its title to the public trust lands is clear and that it can sell or transfer the lands to fulfill the purposes set out in the Admissions Act. Those include bettering the welfare of Native Hawaiians, developing farm and home ownership and supporting public education.

But OHA and the other plaintiffs disagree. They argue that a 1993 congressional apology to Native Hawaiians for the federal government's role in the kingdom's overthrow and later action by the state Legislature bar the state from selling or transferring the lands until their claims are resolved.

The Justice Department brief said the Hawai'i Supreme Court erred in finding that the apology changed federal law regarding the United State's acquisition of the land.

The apology, signed by President Bill Clinton, did not strip away the state's authority to "sell, exchange or transfer" the lands, the brief said.

"Instead Congress opted simply to express regret for the events of a century before," the brief said.

"Ever since the Louisiana Purchase, this (U.S. Supreme) Court has held that when the United States acquires territory, determination of the ceding sovereign's ability to pass valid title is a matter for the political branches, bound up with the power to recognize governments and make treaties," the brief said.

The brief also says the federal government and the state have maintained the trust lands for more than a century and "used the income to better the lot of all Hawaiians, including Native Hawaiians."

If the moral consequences of the kingdom's overthrow call for the trust to be modified, then Congress and the president must make the judgment, the brief said.