Hawai'i's congressional delegation and three civil rights groups are urging the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the court's 2-1 decision declaring that the Kamehameha Schools admissions policy bars non-Native Hawaiian students in violation of federal civil rights laws.

U.S. Sens. Dan Inouye and Daniel Akaka and U.S. Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Ed Case filed a friend-of-the-court brief yesterday in support of the school's request that a larger panel of 11 appeals court judges rehear the case.

The delegation issued a statement saying it is arguing that Congress recognizes that Kamehameha fulfills a role in remedying "educational imbalances faced by Native Hawaiian children."

A separate friend-of-the-court brief was filed by the Japanese American Citizens League-Hawai'i chapter and two San Francisco-based groups, Equal Justice Society and Centro Legal de la Raza.

Eric Yamamoto, a University of Hawai'i law professor and a lawyer for the three groups on the brief, said they argue that the admissions policy does not threaten the civil rights of racial minorities.

"The Native Hawaiian experience is unique, and these civil rights groups support restorative justice for Native Hawaiians," he said.

The enforcement of the 2-1 decision issued Aug. 2 is postponed pending the outcome of the school's rehearing request. Earlier, the state attorney general's office also filed a brief urging the court to grant the rehearing.

The decision is from a lawsuit by an unnamed non-Native Hawaiian student who was denied admission into Kamehameha. Eric Grant, a Sacramento, Calif., lawyer representing the teenager, has said he will oppose the school's request, arguing that the majority in the 2-1 ruling was correct and that there is no need for a rehearing.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.