The state attorney general is appealing a Hawaii Supreme Court decision barring the state from selling or transferring ceded lands until the claims of Native Hawaiians to the property have been resolved.

State Attorney General Mark J. Bennett has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Jan. 31 ruling that affects more than 1.8 million acres of ceded lands.

The U.S. Supreme Court could decide by October if it will consider the state's appeal and a decision could be made by June 2009, Bennett said.

"I believe that the decision of the Hawaii Supreme Court is based on a wholly incorrect reading of the legal effect of the Apology Resolution and strips the state of its basic sovereign right to control and manage the lands it owns," said Bennett, in a news release. "It is my hope that the U.S. Supreme Court will agree to hear this important case."