Dist. Judge Alonzo Harris is permitting City Council members Chawana Fontenot and Bubba Bourque to proceed with gathering information from Mayor Bob Morris until a February hearing that will determine if their defamation suit goes forward.

Morris has filed a motion to strike the matter from the court docket, arguing that he is a public figure and that his remarks about the two are protected under the wider latitude given in public issue discourse.

When such a motion is filed, the process of discovery -- questioning by the parties involved of the other parties to gather as much pertinent information as possible -- stops, unless the trial court lifts the stay.

Fontenot and Bourque, through their attorney, Michael Matt, moved to do that and after a hearing last Friday Harris did.

He ruled the council members need answers to discovery questions in an attempt to prove their case at the Feb. 18 hearing on the motion to strike.