A lawsuit against the New Orleans Times-Picayune seeking the identities of readers who had left anonymous comments criticizing a local politician has been dropped, according to the paper.

The Times-Picayune reports today: “Jefferson Parish President Steve Theriot dropped a parish lawsuit Monday that sought the identities behind 11 anonymous user names on www.NOLA.com who made critical comments online about his administration and former parish officials, court records show."

The paper added that: “The reversal comes after a group of residents criticized Theriot and the Parish Council for the suit at last week's council meeting.

”The suit, filed in the 24th Judicial District Court, also listed Jefferson Parish as a plaintiff and Theriot had said the parish would pay for any litigation."