A 42-year-old Arizona mother of seven has been imprisoned in Mexico, charged with smuggling several pounds of marijuana into the country.

Ummm . . . I mean a 42-year-old Arizona mother of seven WHO IS A DEVOUT MORMON has been . . .

Sorry, but I initially forgot to mention the Mormon thing, which evidently was a mistake because her religious affiliation is being reported in numerous places:

KSAZ:

Fox News:

New York Post:

Business Insider:

San Francisco Chronicle:

OK . . . I get it . . . She’s a Mormon. I also get that she may have been wrongly accused, and that the pot found under her seat on a bus from the U.S. to Mexico probably wasn’t hers.

But I don’t get what her religion has to do with any of this.

Everyone seems to be reporting that she’s a “devout Mormon” without giving even a hint  of why it’s important and why I should give a damn. Would they note that she’s a “devout Muslim” or a “devout Jew” or a “devout Presbyterian” or a “devout Catholic” or a dyed-in-the-wool atheist?

Am I supposed to presume that because she’s a Mormon, she would never ever do such a thing and therefore cannot possibly be guilty?

And who declared her to be “devout”? Says who? Where’s the proof?

Note to editors: If religion and race aren’t relevant to the story, then they don’t belong. Including them in a story does nothing but reveal your prejudices.