President Donald Trump can unite the country and broaden his base at the same time if he picks a "true conservative" as his next Supreme Court nominee, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz said Tuesday.
"The president makes these decisions based on his personal interaction with the individuals more than the recommendations, but obviously he will take into account recommendations as well," Dershowitz told Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
"I hope he is looking for a libertarian conservative, a true conservative who elevates the rights of individuals over the power of government, a true conservative who respects precedent, doesn't come to the court with an agenda, a list of issues he wants to see change."
A true conservative is not a judicial activist, Dershowitz added, and believes in "liberty and precedent. That is what conservatism is on the bench."
Trump interviewed four potential candidates on Monday and has said he'll announce his nominee on July 9. Critics are concerned that he'll pick someone who will seek to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing the right to abortion.
"The Constitution says no religious test shall ever be required for any office," Dershowitz said of the possibility that Trump could consider a candidate's views on religion and abortion.
"It would be unconstitutional and immoral to take into account a person's religious views," said Dershowitz. "In the bad old days when the liberal United States Supreme Court upheld a statute mandatorily sterilizing mentally challenged people, the only dissent came from a religious Catholic whose religious views wouldn't allow him to accept mandatory sterilization."
True conservatives "oppose overreaching from the state," said Dershowitz. "It is different if they say they will impose their religious views on the rest of the country." Americans should be able o practice their religion freely under the Constitution.
Meanwhile, Trump always comes up with surprises and may not stick with his shortlist, Dershowitz said.
"Sen. [Mike] Lee of Utah may not be on the shortlist, but a lot of people think he would be his third justice because he's experienced in law and politics," he commented.
"Others are on the big list but not the shortlist. Don't be surprised if the president deviates from the shortlist and comes up with a name that has not been mostly debated."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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