Meg O’Connor was a senior reporter for The Appeal. She covers police, prisons, and prosecutors. She previously worked for Phoenix New Times and Miami New Times, where her work drew national scrutiny to local police departments and led to the firing of five officers who had committed egregious misconduct. In Miami, she wrote a series of articles showing Miami police had failed to adhere to a new law allowing officers to hand out tickets in lieu of arrest for minor marijuana possession. The series led Miami’s police chief to begin a civil citation program and won the Florida Press Association’s Claudia Ross Memorial Award for investigative reporting, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia’s David Carr Award for investigative reporting, and the Florida Press Club’s Lucy Morgan Award for in-depth reporting.
