Court Opinion

ID: 9702943
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:33:35.991108+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:43.927925
License: Public Domain

SPAETH, Judge,
concurring:
I should resolve appellant’s equal protection argument somewhat differently than does the majority.
I acknowledge that since appellant was tried separately as an adult, he was at a disadvantage as compared with his co-conspirators, for he could not cross-examine the victim as to her prior sexual contact with the co-conspirators. Nevertheless, the classification is consistent with the equal protection clause, for it is rationally related to the state’s legitimate interest in administering the criminal law in a manner responsive to the special needs of the young.1 I therefore agree with the majority’s conclusion that appellant’s equal protection argument lacks merit. At. 365-66.

. Perhaps there may be some doubt as to whether age is a constitutionally protected class. See E.E.O.C. v. Wyo., 460 U.S. 226, 260, 103 S.Ct. 1054, 1073, 75 L.Ed.2d 18 (1983) (BURGER, J., dissenting). But to the extent that age classifications are constitutionally protected, the classifications need only be rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest. Vance v. Bradley, 440 U.S. 93, 99 S.Ct. 939, 59 L.Ed.2d 171 (1979); Mass. Bd. of Retirement v. Murgia, 427 U.S. 307, 96 S.Ct. 2562, 49 L.Ed.2d 520 (1976).