The court held a motion hearing on June 10, 1998. The City appeals. In doing so, we bear in mind the strong presumption that a legislative classification is valid and that the party challenging the statute bears the burden of proving unconstitutionality beyond a reasonable doubt. See id . Whether equal protection of the law has been denied depends on whether there is any rational basis for the classification.
Equal protection is denied if the classification is irrational or arbitrary.
Section 800.14, Stats., governs appeals from municipal court decisions. The new trial shall be conducted by the court without a jury unless the appellant requests a jury trial in the notice of appeal under sub. The City contends that the legislative decision to grant jury trials only to appellants demonstrates an intent to limit jury trials resulting from municipal ordinance violations. The issue in this case is whether the distinction between appellants and respondents drawn by the legislature in attempting to do so violates the equal protection clause. We conclude that it does not.