The decision reverses the trial court’s denial of habeas corpus for Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar living legally in the United States, and ordered the military to release him from the isolation cell in a Charleston, South Carolina, brig where he has been held for the last four years.

The 77-page decision was by Circuit Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, a 1994 Clinton appointee, and joined by Circuit Judge Roger L. Gregory, originally named by Clinton in 2000 as a recess appointment, but renominated by Bush, both sitting members of Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers the states of Virginia, West Virginia and both Carolinas. A district court judge sitting by special assignment, Republican Henry Hudson, dissented. The decision can be accessed here .

The ruling does not mean al-Marri will be freed, however. In fact, the ruling will probably never take effect. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, after calling al-Marri a “dangerous individual,” announced the government will appeal the decision to the Fourth Circuit as a whole (“en banc”), where a reversal is likely. Regardless, the losing side will petition to the Supreme Court, meaning a final decision may not be reached for another year.

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