Emily Darnell lives in Paducah Kentucky, at the far western end of the Bluegrass State. A story about a non-lethal stabbing, a domestic violence episode in the county seat of McCracken County, wouldn’t normally attract much interest in the Lexington Herald-Leader, but in this very ordinary case, it was ‘important’ enough for one of the newspaper’s reporters to write about it himself:

Kentucky woman charged after boyfriend stabbed during fast food argument

by Christopher Leach | Tuesday, November 2, 2021 | 7:39 AM EDT | Updated: 7:44 AM EDT

A Paducah woman has been charged with second-degree assault after allegedly stabbing her boyfriend in an argument over fast food, according to the city police department.

Police were called to a home on Goodman Street at 11:05 p.m. Sunday where they found a wounded man walking away from the home, according to a department Facebook post. He accused his girlfriend, Emily Darnell, 23, of stabbing him with a kitchen knife.

According to police, the victim said he was asleep when Darnell woke him up, wanting to go to a fast food restaurant. The man declined and went upstairs to get away from Darnell.

There are a couple more paragraphs in the original.

Ordinarily this is not a story which would have caught my attention, other than Miss Darnell’s mugshot; the photo to the right is a screenshot of the picture at the bottom of the referenced story, taken at 9:14 AM EDT. We have noted, many times, that the Herald-Leader follows the McClatchy Mugshot Policy, but is very is inconsistent in its application:

Publishing mugshots of arrestees has been shown to have lasting effects on both the people photographed and marginalized communities. The permanence of the internet can mean those arrested but not convicted of a crime have the photograph attached to their names forever. Beyond the personal impact, inappropriate publication of mugshots disproportionately harms people of color and those with mental illness. In fact, some police departments have started moving away from taking/releasing mugshots as a routine part of their procedures.

To address these concerns, McClatchy will not publish crime mugshots — online, or in print, from any newsroom or content-producing team — unless approved by an editor. To be clear, this means that in addition to photos accompanying text stories, McClatchy will not publish “Most wanted” or “Mugshot galleries” in slide-show, video or print.

Any exception to this policy must be approved by an editor. Editors considering an exception should ask:

• Is there an urgent threat to the community?
• Is this person a public official or the suspect in a hate crime?
• Is this a serial killer suspect or a high-profile crime?

If an exception is made, editors will need to take an additional step with the Pub Center to confirm publication by making a note in the ‘package notes‘ field in Sluglife.

According to the Paducah Police Department, Miss Darnell “was arrested on a charge of second-degree assault/domestic violence and booked into McCracken County Regional Jail”, but no note has been made, anywhere that I could find, which stated that she had been convicted of anything. She had been previously arrested, on May 3, 2020, for “menacing” and Indecent Exposure, 2^nd degree, but I found no records of a conviction.

So, I have to ask: under the three conditions that editors for McClatchy Company newspapers are supposed to ponder when publishing mugshots, was Miss Darnell’s arrest considered? Is she an “urgent threat to the community”? Is she “a public official or the suspect in a hate crime?” Is she “a serial killer suspect or a high-profile crime?” The policy states that an editor has to approve the decision to print such.

What my best friend used to call the Herald-Liberal refused to print the mugshot of a previously convicted felon arrested for shooting two people in Lexington, a local teacher accused of raping a minor, and even accused murderers still on the loose, yet they had to show the mugshot of a woman who is not local, and has been accused of a domestic violence assault.

Would I be alone in thinking it’s because she’s a cute (?) white girl?

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Benjamin William Call, photo by Fayette County Detention Center, and is a public record.

Sometimes it really gets too funny. At 11:55 AM EDT, the Herald-Leader published the story “Judge won’t lower bond for man accused of fatal assault in Lexington parking garage,” about the request of the attorney for Benjamin Call, accused of beating John Tyler “Ty” Abner to death. As usual, I looked up Mr Call’s mugshot, a matter of public record, and published it here. Yet, as of 12:51 PM EDT, the newspaper’s website still has Miss Darnell’s mugshot attached to the story about her, despite me having notified both the Herald-Leader in general, and reporter Christopher Leach individually, via Twitter, of their odd choice to publish her mugshot.

The article on Mr Call being denied a bail reduction from $750,000 to $150,000 noted that Fayette District Court Judge Lindsay H Thurston stated:

This court cannot ignore the seriousness of the allegation that has been placed against you. It is murder. It is a Class A felony. It is the most serious allegation in the Commonwealth.

Yet the Herald-Leader is doing what little it can to protect Mr Call’s privacy. Editor Peter Baniak needs to do a better job.