Since the Dec 2009 Update (focused on the Farhi Saeed Bin Mohammed case), only 4 merits decisions have been entered to date.

Saeed Mohammed Saleh Hatim (Judge Ricardo Urbina) - granting his habeas petition based on the following reasoning:

The government's allegations rest almost entirely upon admissions made by the petitioner himself - admissions that the petitioner contends he made only because he had previously been tortured while in U.S. custody. Significantly, the government does not contest the petitioner's claims of torture; rather, it argues that the court should credit the petitioner's statements notwithstanding those claims. The government's justification for detention also rests heavily on a third-party identification by a GTMO detainee whose reliability has been seriously called into question by the court as well as by GTMO intelligence officers.

Upon consideration of the record, the parties' extensive submissions and the arguments presented during the merits hearing, the court concludes that the government has failed to persuade the court that the petitioner's detention is lawful. Accordingly, the court grants the petition for writ of habeas corpus.
Here, the uncontested torture claims had definite impact.

Musa'ab Omar Al Madhwani (Judge Thomas F. Hogan) - denying habeas, although questioning whether Madhwani was a current secuirty threat:

It also is telling that al-Qaida considered Petitioner to be a member. AI-Qaida admitted him to their training camp and trained him to use firearms. AI-Qaida allowed him to be in the presence of bin Laden, twice. AI-Qaida assigned him to the charge of two al-Qaida instructors when the training camp closed. AI-Qaida fed, sheltered, and protected him. AI-Qaida sent him to live in an apartment in Karachi frequented by al-Qaida members. The only logical explanation as to why al-Qaida did all of this for Petitioner is that they considered him a member. Petitioner must have taken some affirmative action to earn that trust and assistance from such a clandestine organization. Accordingly, the Government has proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Petitioner was "part of' al-Qaida.

Though there is sufficient evidence in the record to prove Petitioner was a "part of' al-Qaida, the Court is not convinced that it is more likely than not that Petitioner is a threat to the security of the United States. As a young, unemployed, undereducated Yemeni, Petitioner was particularly vulnerable to the demagoguery of religious fanatics. The record reflects that Petitioner was, at best, a low-level al-Qaida figure. It does not appear he even finished his weapons training. There is no evidence that he fired a weapon in battle or was on the front lines. There is also no evidence that he planned, participated in, or knew of any terrorist plots. Classified documents in the record confirm the Court's assessment. As does the fact that he appears to have been a model prisoner during his seven years of detention. The Court fails to see how, based on the record, Petitioner poses any greater threat than the dozens of detainees who recently have been transferred or cleared for transfer.
Since a number of those transferred have been "vulnerable to the demagoguery of religious fanatics" (or have been such demogogues) after transfer, being a model prisoner is not a sure indication of a lack of a security risk if released.

Suleiman Awadh Bin Agil Al-Nahdi (Judge Gladys Kessler) - denying habeas to a detainee captured at Tora Bora:

To summarize, the Government has met its burden to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that Petitioner heard a fatwa that called on him to fight alongside the Taliban, that he subsequently traveled -- at no cost to himself and while staying at al-Qaida-associated guesthouses ~ -to Afghanistan, that he watched a jihadist video at one such guesthouse, that he received military training at al-Qaida's Al Farouq camp, that he left Al Farouq after a few weeks under orders from al-Qaida leadership, that he traveled to Tora Bora and assumed a role guarding a rear-echelon position at Camp Thabit, again subject to the command of al-Qaida leadership, and that, after leaving Tora Bora, he was injured by Coalition bombs and captured.
Fahmi Salem Al-Assani (Judge Gladys Kessler) - denying habeas to another detainee captured at Tora Bora:

To summarize, the Government has met its burden of demonstrating that Petitioner was recruited by al-Qaida members in Yemen, that he subsequently traveled -- at no cost to himself, and through al-Qaida-associated guesthouses -- to Afghanistan, that he received military training at al-Qaida's Al Farouq camp, that while at the camp he became aware of its connection to al-Qaida and Usama Bin Laden but did not dissociate himself from camp commanders or al-Qaida, that he left Al Farouq and received further training tram Al Farouq leaders, that he traveled to Tora Bora under the command of [name redacted] and [name redacted] that he obeyed orders intended to organize his group into distinct units, and that, after leaving Tora Bora under [name redacted] command, he was injured by Coalition bombs and captured.
These two cases are the first cases (if my scorecard has been kept correctly) where Judge Kessler has denied habeas.

Regards

Mike