The Scoop with Tanya Flanagan

Unknown Speaker 0:00
This is a Kun V 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.

Unknown Speaker 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.

Unknown Speaker 0:42
You Good morning Las Vegas, and thank you for waking up once again on a beautiful Sunday morning to join me for another edition of the scoop right here on 91.5k U, N, V, as usual, I like to bring you an interesting conversation. It is the season of politics, and although I hope I'm not weighing you down politics, I do want to make sure we get to know people who are doing interesting things and worthwhile things in the community. So this morning, I want to take some time to introduce you to a wonderful person that I've gotten to know over the last few months who is working in that space and moving in that vein, I'd like to welcome to the show crystal. Bradford, Hi, Tanya,

Unknown Speaker 1:25
thanks for having me.

Unknown Speaker 1:27
Thank you. I know it's early, and I appreciate your getting up and being bright and chip and grabbing a cup of coffee or whatever your favorite drink is, and spending some time with me today. Here, this is a wonderful time of year. It's fall. The temperatures are dropping. It's been a beautiful week. We can breathe. We can get outside and take some walks and do some fun stuff. You are busy out in the community, meeting people and getting to know people and allowing them to get to know you. I wanted to dig into your life a little bit myself and find out who you are and how you ended up here in Las Vegas. Yes.

Unknown Speaker 2:01
So I am born and raised in Cerritos, California, which is a subsection of Los Angeles. I am the youngest of eight children. Oh, wow. My me and my oldest brother are actually 23 years apart. Wow. So it's definitely interesting, definitely an interesting family dynamic. In fact, my husband's mother is younger than my siblings.

Unknown Speaker 2:32
Well, your husband's mother, yes, well, I would think so, okay, given that, yes,

Unknown Speaker 2:39
oh yeah, wow, yes, yeah, okay, but I grew up in Cerritos, and in to I've been practicing law since 2012 so I actually went to UCLA undergrad. I went to Western State College of Law, and I passed the bar in California, and I did civil litigation there. I have my own firm, some family law, some bankruptcy law. And then I decided to take the Nevada bar. So people in California, they think Las Vegas is the next city over, right? We're used to traffic anyway. So I was at the time coming to Las Vegas. My brother lived here, some family out here, I was coming probably about once a month. And all my life, I've actually been coming to Las Vegas probably about anywhere from seven to 10 times a year my entire life. So I was very familiar with the community. In fact, my parents actually had a couple houses that they owned in Las Vegas as well. And we decided, I decided to take the bar, and I passed, and I, my husband is from Michigan, Flint, Michigan, yes. So we were just dealing with the water crisis out there, which we're still dealing with right now.

Unknown Speaker 3:57
That's a tragedy.

Unknown Speaker 3:58
It really is conversation, it is. But he didn't have any ties to California. So I said, you know, if I passed the bar, would you want to move to Las Vegas? And he was like, Sure. So we picked up and we moved to Las Vegas. We moved here in 2018 so I've been here for six years now. I love it here. I have two children born and raised in Las Vegas, one child. We actually my husband delivered her on the 515 on the freeway. We did not make it to the hospital. Like a movie. It was just like a movie. She came in 12 minutes.

Unknown Speaker 4:34
Are you serious? Yes, sure. Oh, wow. You said the second one, the first one, my last one, the second one came. Yes, well, your labor was quick. It was, I mean, that's the kind of labor that would make you do it all over again.

Unknown Speaker 4:49
Yeah, it was a beautiful nightmare, and and we were done after that. It was, it was during the pandemic, so scary because we hadn't. Done a hospital visit because the hospitals were closed so they weren't allowing us to do hospital visits. And then when we called 911, they told us they didn't have any ambulances available because it was the height of the pandemic. Oh, wow. So I had to, so it's a good thing. I'd have to go to like the ICU, because they didn't have room and I see you, she ended up being in the NICU for a week. But other than that, she was perfectly fine. She was healthy. She's now three years old. So we I, after that experience, I feel like I am a Las Vegas.

Unknown Speaker 5:34
I have to task with all of that. What did you decide to name her? Her name is Royal, okay, when people go through interesting birthing experiences that could have gone in a completely different direction, much more tragic. Usually, whatever you thought you were going to name her, it changes. So were you always going to name her royal?

Unknown Speaker 5:54
I was my four year old. His name was king. That was really the only name me and my husband agreed upon and we I really feel like names are powerful, so I really didn't want to take it lightly naming them. So we agreed on King. And since we had King, we just decided to kind of keep the same type naming theme, yeah. And so we have royal

Unknown Speaker 6:18
very unique and interesting names for yes, they have a lot to live up to, but as their mother, you've done quite a bit in your life, and so now you are taking all of this legal experience and the life background and what you've come to know and taken a different turn here in Las Vegas after six years, but many, Many years of general familiarity with what Las Vegas is about, how the different communities work, getting entrenched in, I assume, different spaces, and we'll get into that as much as we can, but taking a look at Las Vegas Justice of the Peace department too, and throwing your name in the hat for that,

Unknown Speaker 6:57
yes. So when I first moved to Las Vegas. 2018 actually was hired by the public defender's office, so I have been there for six years. I am a chief deputy public defender. I like to call it, you know, I'm fighting for my clients, fighting in the gauntlet, and I'm filing motions, and I'm making sure my clients, you know, rights have been, you know, protected, that their constitutional rights have been protected, that they are getting fair and adequate representation, so completely different from the civil world. But I felt like in the civil world, it wasn't my passion. I felt like I didn't really like law. I wasn't connecting with anyone fighting over $1,000 for a car accident. When I got to the puppet Defender's office, I really felt like I connected with the people. You know, we don't get to pick and choose our cases. I get all people from all types of life, all walks of life, and sometimes your counselor, sometimes your advocate, sometimes your friend. And I just really love the connection with my clients, and unfortunately, when they meet me, they're in the worst position of their life. They're literally facing time are you know that it's the unknown, so they don't know the outcome of their case. So it's just a hard time for them, and just getting to connect with them and kind of hold their hand through the process, it was just, I felt like it was my calling.

Unknown Speaker 8:36
No great to find the space in life to work in that is fulfilling and gives you what you need. It makes me want to ask you, having worked in the spaces of as a lawyer, the desire to shift your role to being the overseer of to of the process you know the judiciary balance between the sides. Why? Where's that coming from after the time you've spent the desire to shift your life in this new direction.

Unknown Speaker 9:12
So being at the public defender's office, I really seen a need for good judges. I would have a conversation with a client, and say, if we track the same case, same client, same fact circumstances, if you go to this judge, you know it's likely you're going to get a felony, you're going to go to prison, but if you go to this judge, you might get a gross misdemeanor. It might be credit time served. You might be home tonight, and that imbalance and judges not following the law. So I actually had a case in this year in front of the Nevada Supreme Court where they overturned the judge's order and ruled in my favor from a judge not following the law. And so I seen that need. I. Mean that there was no representation. Right now at the Las Vegas Justice Court, there's not one African American that sits on the bench. So there's there's a need for the representation. There's a need for people who walk into a courtroom they feel like they are being seen and heard. I have been in court where I don't feel like I've been heard and I've been seen and I'll file a motion, and I know, based on the questions that the judge didn't read my motion and they were about to make a ruling, and so just being in that process and seeing the need for a good, fair, impartial judge is kind of what made me decide to run for judge and be a judge that follows the law as well.

Unknown Speaker 10:45
Well, I say congratulations to you on your decision, because it is. It's quite a sacrifice to place yourself in the open, to be so transparent about who you are, what your background is why you're doing something, and additionally, the impact and effect it has on your home life and your family, because it's not just you, it's everybody that you're connected to. So your kids, it takes time away from them, it takes time away from your husband. What has that been like for anyone who's just considering getting into that space and doing what you're doing, or just understanding the weight of because it's a huge sacrifice to say, I want to help others. I want to be here to make things better for the public as a whole, who finds themselves in the judiciary space, that's a sacrifice, and how do you sort of manage that, or deal with that?

Unknown Speaker 11:45
It's difficult to find that the right balance. A lot of times, I would say, for anyone who wants to go this route or in politics, you really, if you are married, you really need to have that discussion with your spouse. They have to be 100% on board. Because if they're not on board, one's going to have to give either your mate, your marriage, is not going to, you know, make it, or you're not going to be able to continue, you know, being effective and going to different events and meeting people and really doing what you need to do to get where you want to be. So I would say being on the same page with your spouse and having your spouse understand the time commitments. Because this is, you know, my first time running for any kind of office. My husband's never ran for any kind of office. He jumped up and decided to be my campaign manager, and that is a big time commitment in itself, and we're learning together. So if he wasn't open to that, he wouldn't have understood the time commitment, the fact that I am gone a lot, and I am connecting with the community a lot, with my children. I also have a big age gap in my house. So I have a 16 year old, 11 year old, three and four year old. It's good with my 16 year old that I'm doing getting down and not her senior year of high school. That would have been tough with prom and graduation. So she's not there yet. She is driving my 11 year old. He's video games. He probably cares less about if I'm home or gone. And to my three and four year old, they feel it because, you know, they want the attention, and they want to know where is Mommy, right? So, but I know that I'm doing this for them. It's crazy. I met an attorney in this process who said that her daughter didn't know that men could be attorneys, because all she ever saw was her mother as an attorney. So when she finally went with her somewhere to an event and and she saw a male attorney, she said, Mom, men can be an attorneys too. She probably was like, I think she told me she was like, five or six. That's what I want my children to see. I want them to say, hey, you know, a black woman can be a judge. A lot of people don't see that. You know, that's not what you think of when someone says, I'm a judge. That's not the picture you paint in your head. So that representation matters. That's why I'm doing it for my kids,

Unknown Speaker 14:21
that's good, and I do understand and totally agree with you. I remember being in high school, and I was finishing up and receiving a scholarship from my sorority, my sorority. Now it wasn't my sorority then, but I was receiving the Alpha Kappa, Alpha Sorority school, elastic academic scholarship, and the keynote speaker at the dinner that evening, was this black female judge. And I remember in the being in the audience, going be like her when I grow up, like I want like, it was so cool to see her up there speaking and, you know, in the role of judge, and it was inspiring. And my initial and. Into wants to go to law school, but you know, you do what you do undergrad, and then you go. And so my initial undergrad study was journalism and political science. And so the intention was to go on to law school, and I got caught up in my journalism world for some years, and then looked back into it, thought about it, and then did a different program for my graduate level studies, but it is really cool to see people in those you know, roles that are magnified and sometimes rare, because it is an example to young people of what they can do. And it goes back to the old saying that if you don't see it, how do you realize it? If nothing around you says to you, this is a possibility for you as well. I think it speaks volumes even to the time that we're in just in this space as a whole, with our candidates right now for President of the United States of America, because we have a very unique candidate that we've never had in this type of space before, so that's pretty cool. You said you've been here since 2018 Yes. So kind of curious. How did you go about getting to know the community, like, what are you involved in, and where do you spend your time?

Unknown Speaker 16:15
So I really went about it with my job. So being at the public defender's office, they have a lot of events in the community, record ceiling events, different things in the community. And I kind of went about it that way. The pandemic was actually a lot of the time I've been out here, I want to say like two, maybe even towards three years of the six years I've been out here, we were shut down to some capacity, which was unfortunate. Other than that, just again, connecting with my clients, people I've learned about a lot of programs, just talking with my clients. And then my husband is involved in IBEW 357, so he's in the union, so having that union aspect in my house, and I'm actually in the public defenders union as well, so just kind of really with our jobs, that's kind of how we connect it, and

Unknown Speaker 17:12
that's cool, because we always have our universe, right? So you live your life and you create this universe based on where the issues are that matter to you, because in every space, exponentially, there's an issue and something that's impacting a family in a way that may not be as balanced and fair as it should be. So there's always work to be done, no matter what circles we find ourselves in those spaces, we learn whether or not we have a passion for something or if we don't. So I completely get how work has sucked you in, and the same time, expanded your network to help you define who you are and what you want to do and who you want to be helpful to. So that's pretty neat for people who don't know you. Well, while we're on the subject of getting to know you what are some of the spaces that they could get to know you better? There's a social media handles,

Unknown Speaker 18:06
yes. So you can go to crystalbradford.com you'll find out more about me and my background, crystal for Nevada on Instagram, and you can look me up and see I think at this point I'm at I've at least had 75 community events just in this series. Yes, we just, we just counted, and that in some I don't post because sometimes, you know, you didn't get pictures at the event. So sometimes I don't post it, but I try to be in every space I can be at, because

Unknown Speaker 18:46
it's about getting to know people and allowing them to get to know you. I want to make sure so crystal. Spell it for them, just to make sure people can actually find you, as opposed to assuming how you spell crystal.

Unknown Speaker 18:57
So my parents were a little different, but they spelled a, k, r, i, s, t, a, l, and my last name is Bradford, B, R, A, D, F, O, R, D, and you know, you can just remember that it's crystal clear. You want justice.

Unknown Speaker 19:15
I like that. I always love when people can come up with the slogans and hit people with the I could never come up with those lovely little acronyms for myself. I have yet to come up with one I just absolutely am in love with. So you are the youngest of eight kids, yes, and you have two of your own. And your parents are they still in California? Are they here now too?

Unknown Speaker 19:39
So my parents are still in California. Okay, you go back and forth a lot. I do they will be coming here this weekend, so they are also going back and forth a lot.

Unknown Speaker 19:53
And I have three enlisted them in the process of getting out to help you. And yes, and your kids working? Do you work the. How your family crystal I

Unknown Speaker 20:01
do, and unapologetically I did do and any event that they can go to, I try to bring them, because there's so many events that I'm going to that they can't be at. And then my three and my four year old, if I had just one, if I just had the three year old, a four year old, they would sit down, probably in and be mellow, but because I have two they feed off of each other. So like, for instance, if they were here, they'd be running around,

Unknown Speaker 20:30
and just is the little girl trying to keep up with the little boy? Is that Yes, because that I had two older brothers, and that's why I asked the question, because I was a tomboy as a little girl, although some people might find it hard to believe I was a tomboy when I was really small. I had two brothers, and I was going to keep up. I will not. I was not going to lose any contest, climbing trees, playing football, running track, eating the most food. I was going to win.

Unknown Speaker 20:57
Yeah, and my three year old is the girl. So my youngest one, so yeah, she's trying to keep up. And then my four year old's trying to keep up with the 11 year old. So my house is just it's lively,

Unknown Speaker 21:10
good energy. It is good energy. It's a way to revive yourself when you come in from doing a lot of different so what would you say if you were talking to any young women out there, because trying to make life decisions, and not so much about being in a political space, but even going into law. What advice would you give to young girls who are maybe in elementary or high school? Because more than we realize, that you begin to plan for those types of futures earlier rather than later, because if you start too late, you're too late to the party.

Unknown Speaker 21:44
So my advice would be to never give up, and when I say that, I mean, you're going to in life, have obstacles throughout your entire life. So with me, you know, I did grow up pretty privileged, like I had a two household, two parent household, you know, my parents made my dad was entrepreneur. He made very good money, but in college, I got pregnant, and I was a single mom at UCLA. And I know my mom felt like I wouldn't stay in college. I would drop out, and I was like, you know, no, it kind of drove me the opposite way. It drove me more until I have to take care of my daughter, I have to make a living where I can support us both. And so you're in life, you're just going to have obstacles. Do not give up on your dreams. I could have easily said, I'm pregnant. I'm not going to, you know, go and pursue going to law school, because it was difficult. It was not easy. My life was a lot more difficult because I did have a daughter, and I was a single parent, but I had a lot of support. Also, take advantage of your resources that you have. You might not have a lot of money, but sometimes you have friends or support, or you have someone that knows someone. We're all just a couple degrees separated from each other, and don't be afraid to ask for help if you need help. I needed a lot of help in law school with my daughter. It was not easy. I had to study a lot of hours. My parents really did help me with her. Even today, I need help. Sometimes. I had to ask my three and my four year old one of their friends at daycare. You know, she seen I was kind of stressed out about who's going to watch my kids at an event. And she said, you know, if you ever need me, just call me. And I did. I called her, and I was like, because I know my kids are comfortable with her and are they're comfortable with her house, with her children, and I had to ask for help, because I'm not from Las Vegas. I don't have a lot of family out here, so I've had to use resources. I've had to use my coworkers. That's okay. It's okay to to get help from other people, but you have to be in the community to be able to do that, you know, don't, don't shield joy from people, you know. I mean,

Unknown Speaker 24:12
that's really, really good advice, especially the young people. No matter where you are in life and whether your goal is to become an attorney or anything that you're doing, whatever it may be, we because a lot of people move here from other places, and sometimes they have a great network, and sometimes they have a blossoming network, and it's taking the time to cultivate that tree of, you know, resources, or you have something, to pull from here and there, and at the same time, to Water and to continue to grow so that that tree of resources is flourishing for you. But it's really important that the point that you made not to give up and to understand that you should lean on people and then be there to allow them to lean on you as well. I think that makes a world of difference in everyone. His life, especially when you're trying to none of the things that we do. And as you know, as you've gotten out in this space and gotten to know and your network has expanded, you've met a lot of people who are very community and civic minded, from the Ashley dodsons to, you know, Tara has abula to Belinda to judge, Belinda T Harris and just Aisha going, there's just a ton of people out there doing, Danna LaVale, all kinds of people doing a number of things. And the reason why people are they are successful at what they're trying to do, is because they are leaning on one another for support and turning on and showing up to make sure things get done and things don't fall through the crack. So I think that is a really strong lesson and message to share with those who are listening to us this morning and enjoying this conversation, getting to know you miss Bradford, so I want to say thank you for that. Would you say your young pregnancy was the hardest hurdle you overcame, or was there something more difficult than

Unknown Speaker 26:05
that? I had two pretty big hurdles, one life and one death. So my young pregnancy was very difficult, but at the time, it's funny, I had a little cousin who lived with us since he was three years old, very smart. So in my family, everyone thinks, Oh, I'm so smart. But he was surpassed me at every level. And he was in college, this was going on two years, 20 years old. So you know, like I feel like he was my second child, and he was coming home from college to visit his friend for a surprise birthday party, got in a car accident, and unfortunately he died. That was by far the hardest thing I've ever done, that was the closest to a child that I had lost, and I didn't realize the depression that I was in at the time, but I felt like it was just a cloud I just couldn't escape. But that was that was that was tough. Hmm,

Unknown Speaker 27:12
depression is always a conversation. We've talked about it on the show a number of times with different people, recognizing that no matter what we're going through, each of us can find ourselves in a space where life is just very challenging and it begins to weigh you down, depending on what the circumstances are and what has happened, and how you're able to respond and overcome or recognize it, to reach out and get the resources or access resources that are available, and even if it's just Finding someone you're comfortable enough with to have a conversation and talk about how you're feeling, is that part of how you coped with it, or what was for you your turning point? I mean, we're running out of time, but I want to not leave this hanging a little

Unknown Speaker 27:54
bit. Yeah, just therapy always helps. Prayer and and really cherishing the moments you do have with the people that are around you,

Unknown Speaker 28:06
I think that's such a good point, and I think that it speaks volumes too. I hope that people's takeaway in this conversation with you and hearing different aspects of things you've gone through in life is the level of humanity that you possess, and your space of interest in going into a judgeship if you are so fortunate, we wish you all of the success that is out there and possible waiting for you to grab hold of for Las Vegas Justice Court department too, yes. But I think it's a chance for people to just kind of, I hope, get to know you and see some of the humanity and life experiences and get to get some questions answered that they might have. So I want to say thank you for spending some time here with me, and thank you for the invite. You're welcome again your website, in case anyone wants to read a little bit more about you, or get to know you, or reach out. And it's

Unknown Speaker 29:00
crystalbraford.com so crystal at a, k n, i k, r, I S, T, a, l,

Unknown Speaker 29:07
Crystal, thank you for joining me this morning here on the scoop 1k, U, n, b 91.5, jazz and more. Thank you to my listening audience for always tuning in and being supportive and getting to know people in our community a little bit better. Stay safe, enjoy this beautiful fall weather. Have a wonderful week and a grand tastic Sunday. See you next time, I want to thank you for tuning in to the scoop with me. Tonya 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 almond eyes Flanagan, and if you have a thought, an opinion or a suggestion, don't hesitate to shoot me an email to tanya.flanagan@unlv.edu Thanks again for joining in. Stay safe and have a great week. You.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai