Harper v. Department of Defense

60 F.3d 833 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. James D. HARPER, Jr. Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE; United States Army; Department of Justice; Assistant Secretary of Defense, Public Affairs, Washington, D.C. Defendants-Appellees. No. 93-35876. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted May 2, 1995. * Decided July 3, 1995. 1 Before: BROWNING, REAVLEY, ** and NORRIS, Circuit Judges 2 MEMORANDUM *** 3 * We reject defendants' argument that no Vaughn index was required. We did not require a Vaughn index in Lewis v. IRS, 823 F.2d 375, 379-80 (9th Cir. 1987), because the plaintiff sought only documents that were categorically exempt from disclosure. See Wiener v. FBI, 943 F.2d 972 , 978 n.5 (9th Cir. 1991). No categorical exemption was present here. We also reject defendants' contention that no index was required because this case involves only one statutory exemption -- Harper challenged the adequacy of agency affidavits offered in…