Scientology Scriptures Ordered Sealed

A Los Angeles federal judge barred further public disclosures of sacred scriptures that the Church of Scientology claims were stolen two years ago from a Denmark church. Ruling in a suit filed by the church against former member Larry Wollersheim and a rival church in Santa Barbara, U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer ordered the material sealed until a hearing Friday. The material is evidence in the Superior Court suit filed by Wollersheim, who claims he wasted thousands of dollars on counseling sessions that the church promised would improve his intelligence and give him supernatural powers. In a separate action, the state Supreme Court refused to block a Los Angeles Superior Court jury from imposing punitive damages on the church. The jury will be hearing a separate $25-million fraud suit filed by Wollersheim.