Abdi Soltani

Abdi Soltani was born in Los Angeles, but moved to and lived in Iran, his family’s country of origin, until he was 9. That’s when they moved back to the U.S.

He says his first exposure to the ACLU was in 1988 when George H.W. Bush “accused” Michael Dukakis in a presidential debate of being card-carrying member of the ACLU.

After graduating from Stanford, he went to work as an organizer of young people and people of color at Californians for Justice (he would later become its executive director), a nonprofit founded after 1994’s regressive anti-immigrant Proposition 187 passed in California.

After that, he went to the ACLU, a 100-year-old nonprofit of hundreds of attorneys protecting civil liberties. In 2009 he became executive director of the ACLU of Northern California division, which covers 48 counties from Monterey to the Oregon border. He extended the ACLU’s reach into the Central Valley where they’ve worked to reform money bail and ensure adequate legal counsel for poor people, and has marshalled the organization’s resources in Sacramento by advocating for legislation on court fees, poverty towing and police conduct.

He speaks Jan. 26 on voting, money, politics and protecting democracy as a guest of the Monterey County Chapter of the ACLU of Northern California – “I’m very proud of the work of [that] chapter,” he says.

Weekly: What is the state of Americans’ voting rights?

Soltani: Since the Shelby County v. Holder] decision by the Supreme Court, we’ve seen a wave of voter suppression laws passed by states throughout the country. These measures tend to target low-income people, the young, people of color.

What is the role of geography and demographics in voter suppression?

There’s no doubt that in some states there is a concerted effort to suppress the vote. It’s imperative to take steps to ensure equal access to voting for every citizen. And the ACLU works with Democrats and Republicans, people of every party and no party, to ensure that principle is upheld. We will go to court in blue or red states when we see voting rights violated.

How has ACLU’s slogan “Dissent is Patriotic” been challenged?

One of the very first acts of Congress, the Alien and Sedition Acts, sought to suppress dissent and criticism [of the government] soon after the founding of this country. While the First Amendment upholds freedom of speech and of the press, the impulse of those in power is often to limit that speech.

Your office is in San Francisco. What can the ACLU do about gentrification?

We’ve had a number of cases related to the constitutional rights of the very poor, including people unhoused. Their right to free speech, for example with panhandling, and Fourth Amendment rights to their personal items, medicine and property when Caltrans is clearing encampments. People who are unhoused are much more exposed to the power of government. They are more vulnerable.

Have you seen the movie The Last Black Man in San Francisco?

[Laughs.] I’ve been far too busy to be able to see movies lately.

What is something about Iran and Iranians that Americans do not seem to understand?

That’s a difficult question. It generalizes Americans and Iranians. I would want every American to try some Persian food and experience Persian hospitality.

What would they find?

Iranian Americans, including those of us with U.S. citizenship, and those on green cards, share the same fundamental values of all Americans: Constitutional rights, freedom of religion, equal protection under the law. As we saw in the aftermath of the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, there were Iranian Americans who were detained in Washington state as they were returning from Vancouver. A person’s heritage should not be the basis by which the government deems them suspicious.

What are your favorite thing about the United States?

Three of my favorite things are the First Amendment, which makes us a rowdy, rebellious bunch; the 14th Amendment, because it affirms our commitment to freedom and equality for every person; and on a personal level, I love the national parks. Because, like the Constitution, they are things that endure and connect the generations.

ABDI SOLTANI speaks 1pm Sunday, Jan. 26, at Marina branch library, 190 Seaside Circle, Marina. Free. 402-3010.