Opinion ID: 874850
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause

Text: Pizzuto argues that I.C. § 19-2719 is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States and Idaho Constitutions. Pizzuto argues that the statute is unconstitutional because it treats capital defendants differently and unequally in comparison to non-capital defendants. To apply this law only to capital defendants caught in the failed experiment of the legislative attempt to `rush to judgment,' Pizzuto argues, is the ultimate violation of the principles of the equal protection and due process. The State argues this Court has found in a number of cases that I.C. § 19-2719 does not violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses, and that Pizzuto has failed to explain why they are not controlling. This issue has been settled; I.C. § 19-2719 does not violate the Equal Protection Clause, State v. Beam, 115 Idaho 208, 213, 766 P.2d 678, 683 (1989), and it does not violate the Due Process Clause. Rhoades, 120 Idaho at 806, 820 P.2d at 676.