LAS VEGAS, Nev. / An open records request filed today by the political website YourPoliticsNews.com seeks to discover the extent of any connection between the controversial Church of Scientology and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle.

Up until last week Angle has been a virtual unknown and has not received the same coverage or scrutiny as her opponents.

In 2003, then Assemblywoman Sharron Angle backed a trip to Mexico to visit The Second Chance Program, a program backed by the Church of Scientology.  Second Chance claimed to detoxify inmates by administering vitamin and mineral supplements, massage and sauna treatments to drain the body of drug toxins.  But Angle did not reveal the Church of Scientology connection when she championed the program to her colleagues and arranged for a paid trip to Mexico to see the program in action.  Interest in the program quickly waned once the connection to the Church became public.

Four years later the same program became the focus of a 'Wall Street Journal' report after New Mexico adopted the program for its state prisons.

In its story, the ‘Wall Street Journal' (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07019/755193-28.stm) described Second Chance as "one of the country's most unusual alternatives to the nation's prison systems. Founded by a Scientologist and former real-estate developer -- and funded partly by federal tax dollars -- Second Chance is a treatment program for nonviolent prisoners with substance-abuse problems.

"It is based on principles of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology religion, who argued that toxins from drugs and pesticides accumulate in the body's fatty tissues, making it difficult for addicts to kick their habit. Saunas and vitamins are intended to purge these residues. Facing few options for successful long-term ways to treat criminal defendants with serious drug problems, 24 of New Mexico's 84 district judges have sentenced more than 50 prisoners to terms at Second Chance."

Sharron Angle, Scientology Connection?