The Scoop with Tanya Flanagan

Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a KU NB studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Tanya Flanagan 0:19
Good morning, and thank you for joining me for the scoop with Tanya Flanagan, I'm so happy you decided to wake up and start your day with me here on the scoop, where we talk about life, joy, funny moments, trending topics and so much more. We promise to keep you in the know and find out what you know. So let's get started. You

Tanya Flanagan 0:46
Good morning Las Vegas. Good morning Nevada. Thank you for tuning in once again to the scoop with me. Tanya Flanagan, as always, it's delightful to be here, and I hope that you are feeling fantastic on this beautiful Sunday morning. I'm excited to welcome to the studio with me today. Jamie, swallow some Bruce, she's with the ACLU Nevada office. They do some tremendous and impactful and very necessary work throughout the state, and I'm just delighted to have you here. You are the Development Director for

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 1:15
the ACLU. Yeah. Thank you so much. Good morning. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for

Tanya Flanagan 1:20
spending some time with me. I was thinking about what I wanted to talk about this week, and I was like, I want to make sure people get some education, really strong education this week, and just thinking about the climate in our country. What's going on with immigration, with freedom of speech in the last, oh, month, maybe, I think it's been we've seen late night television shows canceled. We saw Jimmy Kimmel show come back. I was just in Washington recently as well, and just looking at the climate of our nation's capital and what's going on in the country and how people are feeling and the conversations we're having and listening to news programs. I thought, Who could I talk to that would have a real pulse on the work going on in that space and why it's so important? And so I reached out to see if someone in your office would come and spend some time with me. So thank you, yeah, for agreeing to be a part of this really kind of heavy but very important conversation. Yeah, so Jamie, what exactly do you let's talk about what the ACLU does and then what you do.

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 2:38
Yeah, as the state's largest civil rights and civil liberties organization, we kind of cover all those things that you just mentioned right. Civil rights are those constitutional rights that protect us against discrimination, like on the basis of sex or race or age or disability. And civil liberties are the freedoms that protect us from the government. Like you know, your first amendment, your freedom of speech, freedom of religion, protest, but we cover all all constitutional rights, which really covers the gamut of all the things that we're talking about here.

Tanya Flanagan 3:13
Now, I am sure that when you explain that just now, you had someone's ears completely perk up, because we think things that protect us civil rights. We've been talking about a civil rights movement for as long as I can remember in this country. It precedes all of us in time to whatever degree, and it impacts us personally, individually, collectively. Civil liberties, protecting us from the government, is a really strong statement to make when we think about the condition of the country right now, and for some the encroachment of the government. Is it overreach? Does it make sense? Does it not make sense? Can you talk more about how. I mean, I'm sure someone's ears perked up and thought protection from the government,

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 4:04
yeah, well, when we talk about the First Amendment, I mean, that's sort of my favorite, because I went to unlv. I'm a journalism major, and I had a career in media prior to working for the ACLU, so freedom of speech and all the things that we're talking about right now are so important to me, and I know they're important to a lot of your listeners, but, you know, I think what we're seeing now that's a little bit different people like Jimmy Kimmel or, you know, it's okay if you're a private company or your organization that you work for is kind of allowed to have some Say. But what we're seeing now that's a little bit different, is the government weighing in on that, and the government sort of extending an influence over what those companies and private organizations are doing, and that's having a chilling effect on the First Amendment. It's a little

Tanya Flanagan 4:57
scary. It's very scary. And. As a fellow journalist, because I too, share the same background. Undergrad, I got a degree in journalism and Political Science from the University of Arizona. I did my master's program here at UNLV so exploring different subjects, standing neutral on a number of different issues over the years as a journalist, and I spent 10 years in that space as a print reporter, finding because what you know, the way we used to do this was you found the two parties you shared both sides of the coin in the story, and you found people who were on both sides of the issue. You didn't form an opinion on the issue per se, you simply presented the ideas and allowed people to feel educated and form an opinion for themselves, and it didn't mean you had to agree with it. You know, it's the concept of you agreeing to disagree. But now where you see government come in and say, well, that's fake news, or you just can't say that. You just can't have an opinion. You just can't think for yourself. Is that what we're saying? I mean, that's what it feels like is happening with the cancelation of Stephen Colbert show. And then there's all this conversation about, well, the ratings weren't great and really. And then Jimmy Kimmel, when the same type of distress erupted out of the show. Well, is that a ratings call as well, or is it not? And then seeing the people flock back to it to watch him, when maybe before were they watching him? Were the numbers even that high? But now it's something people want to see, because they want to see well, you know what's so controversial,

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 6:42
and it speaks to the power of the public right, and that's part of what we do as well. Public Outreach, community education. We hold Know Your Rights events. We've had dozens of Know Your Rights events, reaching 1000s of people and empowering them here in Nevada, on on their constitutional rights, especially, you know, when we talk about immigration concerns, we just want to protect families, protect local businesses from all of those concerns.

Tanya Flanagan 7:11
I was looking at your website, and I noticed that you have a lot of things on it, and thank you for bringing that up, talking about knowing your rights, from immigration to gender identity, changing your birth certificate. And I thought it really interesting. There's so much happening now, and there's so much to be sensitive and thoughtful around. If I am wanting to do a gender identity and I want to change my gender on my pertinent documents, that there's a process for that. There's protections for that, and you guys work in that space, and that's very encompassing, and so it's very inclusive and very intentional. Work, ice and deportation, what documents people should have in their possession, or when they can be stopped or questioned, or how to be mindful. We're seeing so much every day, families broken or families afraid. We're seeing people not turning out to events that we put on normally for families to just enjoy themselves, that are services in the community, that people aren't coming up to take advantage of those resources. And so, you know, do you get these types of questions when you do the instructional seminars? Oh, yeah.

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 8:29
I mean, everyone's concerned and scared, you know, to even just leave their house or to open the door. But what we do is try to educate folks on their rights, and hopefully bring a little bit of hope and a little bit of safety, and have them know that we've got your back, that we are here to defend your constitutional rights. Everyone you know on our soil is entitled to those rights. And so that's, I think, that that's what we're hoping to to help is, is to, you know, let people keep living their lives right, and to give them that hope and otherwise they win.

Tanya Flanagan 9:13
Right? Yes, yes. Because if we give in, they do. You are your native Las Vegas. You went to school UNLV. So are you from here?

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 9:21
Um, I do claim it, but we moved here about 30 years ago. I was in high school, so, yeah, I'm a CCSD product, okay?

Tanya Flanagan 9:30
Because you look, I'm like, Well, you just look. So yeah, and then, and then, of course, having this youthful beauty that you have, but asking about it, because what brought you in initially. How long have you worked for the ACLU? I've worked

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 9:44
with the ACLU for about a year and a half. Okay, so it's a new space for you,

Tanya Flanagan 9:49
so you've kind of come into it while everything has manifested as you will. But before, what were you doing before this like I'm wondering. And. Guess, and where I'm going with this question is, when you first started working in this arena or dealing with the work that you do, how have you how what do you feel about how it's evolved, and how do you feel like like when you started in as a journalist? We were here right, and now we're here in terms of society, how we cover stories, or how we look at things, or these were the types of stories that were relevant when I started. And now, even though maybe the same types of stories are being told, this is the lens we were looking at them through when I started. And here's how that lens is affected by events today. So I'm kind of wondering what your take is on that.

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 10:49
Yeah, you know, when I, when I joined the ACLU, it was sort of gearing up towards election season, and the ACLU is a nonpartisan nonprofit. So we have, you know, we had a playbook for either outcome of who was to win that election. And you know, there's going to be challenges with either administration. But, you know, I think the ACLU is also pretty well prepared for what happened. We we lived through the first the first Trump term, we filed 430 legal actions that time. And so on day one, we were ready right on inauguration day, I think within an hour or so of the first executive order being signed on birthright citizenship, the ACLU was ready with a lawsuit to try to protect that. And since then, I've been very impressed with the organization's handling of it and the speed with which they're able to to react. You know, we've had 165 legal actions filed already. That's about four a week and 81 lawsuits. So that's an average of two per week since, since January. Yeah, and so, you know, as I mentioned, my my personal background, I was in journalism and media thanks to my education at UNLV.

Tanya Flanagan 12:17
Go right. Go Rebels,

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 12:20
go rubs and and I actually left to to be a stay at home parent for a while, but I was always still active in the space. And I was volunteering with the PTA and local, you know, public education initiatives and, you know, women's rights organizations. And I just saw what the ACLU was doing, and wanted to be a part of it, no matter how I had to do that, because I'm not an attorney. I'm not a civil rights lawyer, you know. But the great thing about this and being able to work with work with people, you know, donors, supporters, and figure out how to connect them best, and how they can feel like they have the most meaningful connection to our organization. Has been so rewarding, and I can't imagine being anywhere else, especially right now with everything that's going on.

Tanya Flanagan 13:09
Yeah, I've always said to people and thank you, let me say that, thank you for the work that you do and thank you for the passion that you have to engage yourself in the space, because it takes a certain type of person to be hard wired to boots to the to put boots to the ground, right, boots on the ground to do the work. And so thank you for that. Thank you as a woman in this space too, because is it a different lens too, because you're a woman, or is it the same right because we talk about reproductive rights, we talk about equity in the workplace, we talk about fair pay, access, promotional opportunity? Do you find that to be any different, or is it just

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 14:01
That's a good question. You know, I think it's from a place of privilege that I can say probably not that much. I just wasn't really raised like that, but also being fully aware that being a woman like impacts everything that we do and every choice that we make, and especially as a mom, I know that that's a huge part of it for me, is just what kind of world do I want my kids to live in? Is kind of my lens that I see it all through.

Tanya Flanagan 14:30
So, so you decide to get involved, and I know the ACLU has volunteer components. So for a person out there listening to the show today, how do they get involved with the ACLU if they're sitting at home going, yes, these things, yes, better. And I want because I used to, I've done a lot of nonprofit work over the years, which is basically a lot of volunteerism, and I love it. But I always say to people who are looking for an outlet, make sure you align yourself with the work. You're passionate about. And I'm sure there's someone listening to us this morning or who will listen to this because it's available. Wherever you enjoy your podcast, you can find the scoop with me and here, and they're going to say, I want to do something in this

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 15:13
space. Oh, I would love that our website has all of that information. It's a C, l, u, N, v.org, O, R, G, and you'll see the tabs along the top. If you want to volunteer or participate in any other way, you just sign up and we'll contact you, and we'll kind of work out what the best way to do that is for you. We can, you know, accommodate your schedule or your preferences. We have, you know, canvassing, or is it a postcard party? Do you want to host a party for us? There's it's really customizable, okay?

Tanya Flanagan 15:46
And for organizations that do work adjacent or you know that aligns with your mission, and they want to have a seminar, a workshop, conversation, coffee, chat, whatever, on any issue that falls in your wheelhouse. Yes. How do they go about? Yeah, hey, can you come and help us have a conversation to educate more

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 16:07
people? Yeah, you can also sign up for a know your rights training on our website as well. The tab on the top, it's A, C, l, u n, v.org, and the tab on the top says, Know Your Rights. You can sign up there for a training for your business, for your group, for your family, for whatever. You know, we're happy to come and do that and help any way we can, whether it's virtual in person, we'd like

Tanya Flanagan 16:28
that intimate that if I were a family and I was just afraid to go to something, I could call you and you would do something for my from my family, four or five or six, or whatever, I think I could

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 16:41
to do a zoom, but, yeah, we do events with all sorts of local groups. We don't really discriminate about, you know, who the group that's very personalized, yeah?

Tanya Flanagan 16:53
Okay, well, that's good to know. Yeah, very good to know. So thank you for sharing that information. How long the ACLU has been around for

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 17:01
how long the ACLU, that our national organization, has been around for over 100 years.

Tanya Flanagan 17:06
Yeah, most of the civil rights organization, right started in 1910 all kinds of stuff, yeah.

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 17:13
So we've been around for all those major Supreme Court cases. And then the ACLU of Nevada has been around for almost 60 years, since 1966 so right around the time of civil rights movement?

Tanya Flanagan 17:21
Well, yeah, 1965 Yeah, a great team of people. And I've had the pleasure of, I was looking at your board of directors, knowing some of those folks, and the pleasure of you see them out. It's funny because you see people out in the community, and no one meets you and just runs down their resume. So you don't realize all the things that people do. But I was looking and I was like, wow, I didn't realize so many people that I know are members of the board or a part of the team. And I would see the team, of course, during the legislative session, they would come up and watch policy and help us make, help legislators make smart decisions, and, you know, give consideration to a side or an angle of an issue that hadn't been considered. So for that, I say thank you, because it was helpful to me, and I'm sure it was helpful to others who were there. Yeah.

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 18:11
I mean, we have a pretty small team. There's about 14 of us in addition to our board as well. But you know, it might seem like it's more people, because we cover so much ground right that we're statewide, and we try to attend a lot of events and be a part of the community and support. And I think it was over 100 events last year that our team participated in. So people often think that we're a bigger group, but that's really nice to hear things. You have

Tanya Flanagan 18:34
an event coming up, and even though I hear it sold out, it's one of the most popular I had the pleasure of going for the first time to your annual gala. Yeah, and I want to talk about the gala a little bit, even though, and I'm sorry folks who are listening, who might go, I'd like to go. I understand this event, which is ever so popular, is sold out, but it is. It was a full blown gala in the middle of the week last year, on a Wednesday night. And when I say full blown people are in black tie, they are ready, and it's a good time, but it's also a time when you pause and you say thank you to some of your community partners and support for the work that they do on the front lines to advance the causes that the ACLU has identified as significant issues that need to be worked and pushed back against judge. Belinda T Harris was one of the honorees last year at bth. We love B T H, so giving her a shout out, for those of you who know her,

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 19:33
it's a big event. Yeah, yeah, our celebration of civil rights event this year, we're switching up the format a little bit. It's the arise and defend brunch. So but you know, the vibe is still going to be the same. It's a fun event. It's a time of celebration where we we recognize leaders in the community and supporters and people moving in this space and civil rights champions. And it's also, isn't it just so good to be with your people like it is? Just be surrounded, to be in a room full of, you know, hundreds of like minded people, yeah, and to just have that, like, warm feeling of community. So it's really fun, and it's high energy. It's a little bit different than your typical Gala, but it is.

Tanya Flanagan 20:14
It's very different, but it was a lot of fun, and I'm excited that this year it's a brunch coming up in, I think in, well next month, in October, but just also assuming that through that work means you're watching what's happening on the bench, who's doing good work. You're watching attorneys. And that makes it a comprehensive examination of the justice system locally. Because we, for years, I've worked with groups that have had conversations about whether it's racial profiling, whether it's trafficking, it's discrimination, wrongful hiring, wrongful termination. You're saying here's who's doing a good job in the community, like a watchdog, like you're a service provider who's looking at fairness, but you're awarding people for a job well done, and it how do you balance the time to do? I guess that's what I'm wondering. How do you do both? How do you respond to all these cases and then look at who's doing if you, you know, farm it out or call on someone to help you. How do you find time to also track who's doing a good job in this same space?

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 21:25
Yeah, our legal team is so tapped in to the space, and, you know, we're known for systemic litigation, so we are very selective about the cases that we take on. They have to have the widest impact and the potential to help the most amount of people, so we're pretty selective about that, and you know, we're we're different. We're not a direct service organization in that way, but we work with so many other attorneys and judges in that space and so many nonprofit partners, right? We're a part of a larger coalition of folks serving all the different areas that that need help, and we can call on them and work with them. And at the same time, we see them. We see who's doing the work we we see, you know, which community leaders are really stepping up this year, and who's helping, and who the helpers are, right? As they would say,

Tanya Flanagan 22:17
Yeah, it's so beneficial to the community, whether we realize, you know, people realize it or not, and I think that was my takeaway in having the opportunity to attend for the first time. And it's crazy to say that I went to something for the first time, but to have attended for the first time last year, and I didn't go before, because I always thought it was kind of a night for attorneys to be celebrated, and it was mid week, and so sometimes it was just the scheduling. It was always challenging, but so I'm excited that it's more on a weekend this year, but to see the flowers given to people and really people that you wouldn't wasn't typical awards. It was like nonprofit boots to the ground, person who volunteered, like an exponential, crazy number of hours to give time to a cause that they thought was important, whatever it was, right? You know, discriminator, unfair trial, you know, retrial considerations for people who are incarcerated, or job opportunities for people who were once incarcerated. So just Yeah, it was nice to see

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 23:35
the perspective, yeah. It's local businesses being recognized. It's also, you know, legislators who, you know, we do a lot of policy advocacy work, trying to stop bad bills, but also advancing the good ones that that support and defend civil rights and civil liberties. And so we work, we work in so many different spaces, right the ACLU really touches kind of everything. And so you do get to know who's who's doing the good work, and we do want to recognize

Tanya Flanagan 24:02
that no, recently, we had the crime bill come up. We've had the court related to ordering people out of the strip for trespassing and being disruptive. And what does that look like? And is that fair? Is that not fair? So there's a lot of interesting work that goes on at the hands of the ACLU in your role as development director, and we have a little bit more time. We're getting into the final stretch here. What do you what exactly do you get to do all the time that you like? What do you like the most about what you do?

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 24:34
Oh, it's my favorite thing. I just get to talk to people. I love it. I get to be an evangelist for the ACLU. I get to spread the good word of our work and and connect people about something that I'm passionate about, right? I get to and I get to talk to like minded people and get to know them. Our supporters and our donors are the best people, and to get to spend time with them and say, Okay, how you know what are your. Goals for your legacy, and how do you want to have an impact? How do you want to help the fight? How do you want to stand up and connecting them with that opportunity?

Tanya Flanagan 25:08
What's the scariest thing to you in this work that's happening in our society right now, because you're like on the front lines, looking at this evolve and seeing how it's impacting families and children. And you said something earlier about how you want to leave the country, and I've heard that that comment several times in the last few months, the call to action of, how do you want to leave the country for your children in the future? Like, what are we leaving?

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 25:38
Yeah, what scares me? I mean, it really is. It always just comes back to the families, the family separations happening. But I take that and turn it into, you know, well, first it's rage, really, and then I try to turn that rage into motivation when I'm when I'm at work and, you know, getting the most done and helping the most people, and I think, you know, so many of us are feeling that rage, that it's it's nice to be able to connect with other people who are experiencing the same things I'm experiencing, and I can give them a way to help and actually physically do something, whether that's volunteering, donating, whatever they want to do. You know, there's so many different ways you can show up for your community, and I'm here to help you do that.

Tanya Flanagan 26:24
Thank you. And Rach is is a very fair emotion, but when you said that, it made me think about a James Baldwin quote that is decades old, right that dates back to the civil rights when civil rights was 1965 1970s civil rights in this country. And he it was a comment that went something along the lines of, to be black in America is to almost always be in a constant state of rage like and if you are not, you're not aware of what's happening around you, right? And so when you said that, the thing for me was to come all these decades forward and yet to still be in this space where the emotion people are having to the state of life in America is rage over injustices, because that's what James Baldwin was alluding to. And at that time, the country was very black and white, and now it has a lot of color, but that you said that today, and he said that so long ago, it's like where we have the conversation about history repeating itself, yes, and when we ever really move forward and not keep and I was, I don't know, the other day something someone else that Africa was watching CBS mornings or something. And there was the thought of how easy it is for or maybe Aaron Ford said it as well, but for cowardice to be contagious, and also for courage to be contagious. And so which one do you choose?

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 27:59
Yeah, you know,

Jamie Spotleson-Brousse 28:01
yeah, I choose courage, right, right? And what's the alternative?

Tanya Flanagan 28:05
Yeah. And it made me think humanity right, because you can incite, I don't know, prejudice and bullying behavior, and then you can incite kindness. So how you act toward others is contagious. How you treat people, how you lead creates the humility or the humanity, the humility and the humanity that you want

Tanya Flanagan 28:31
that's beautiful. Yeah, thanks, Jane, you're beautiful.

Tanya Flanagan 28:36
Thank you for being here. Thank you so much making the day brighter, and I hope we leave folks with you with something on your mind and some things to think about. Thank you for taking some time. Jamie spottles and Bruce with you left me with something. Thank you. Thank you The ACLU folks. Thanks for tuning in once again to the school with me. Tanya Flanagan here on 91.5k U, N, V, jazz and more. I look forward to talking to you again, same time, same station, next week. Take care. I want to thank you for tuning into the scoop with me. Tanya Flanagan, and I want to invite you to get social with me. I'm on Facebook and Twitter. My name is my handle, T, a n, y a F, l, a n, a G, A N. You can also find me on Instagram at Tanya Alma, nice Flanagan, and if you have a thought, an opinion or a suggestion, don't hesitate to shoot me an email to tonya.flanagan@unlv.edu. Thanks again for joining in. Stay safe and have a great week. You.

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