- New York considers repealing century-old adultery law
- Law rarely used; about a dozen charged since 1972
- Bill to abolish infidelity prohibition expected to pass
Critics who advocate for its repeal assert that despite the legislation’s inception in 1907, the number of charges levied against individuals in the last half-century has stayed within twelve.
A state in the United States may soon repeal a law that has been in effect for a century and criminalizes the act of deception.
Since 1907, adultery has been classified as a misdemeanor, which is a low-level criminal offense, in the state of New York.
Historically, states throughout the United States enacted such legislation to reduce the number of divorces during a period when a cheating spouse was the only way to obtain a legally binding separation.
Since 1972, however, approximately a dozen individuals have been charged in New York; the most recent charge was filed over a decade ago.
Five of those cases, according to New York assemblyman Charles Lavine, who has sponsored a measure to repeal the infrequently utilized legislation, have resulted in convictions.
He stated that it makes no logical sense and that much progress has been made since intimate relationships between consenting adults were deemed immoral.
“That is a jest. This legislation represented the moral indignation of some individuals.”
According to Boston University law professor and co-author of “A Guide to America’s Sex Laws” Katharine Silbaugh, the purpose of adultery prohibitions was to punish women.
She stated, “Let us simply say this: patriarchy.”
The bill to repeal the prohibition on infidelity has passed the state assembly and is anticipated to pass the state senate shortly before its presentation for signature to the governor.
Application of the law since its inception
A few weeks after the law went into effect in 1907, the first individuals arrested following a divorce petition filed by the man’s wife were a married man and a 25-year-old woman, according to an article from the New York Times.
It appears that the last adultery allegation in New York was lodged against a woman who was apprehended performing a sexual act in a public park in 2010.
Later, however, the case was dismissed by a plea bargain.
In the 1960s, a panel charged with revising New York’s criminal laws determined that the adultery prohibition was virtually impossible to enforce, which nearly led to its abolition.
Nevertheless, despite the initial approval of the proposal in the state assembly, it was subsequently reinstated by the chamber after a political figure’s contention that abandoning the measure might imply the state condoned adultery, as reported in a 1965 New York Times article.
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The majority of states in the United States that continue to enforce legislation on infidelity categorize such offenses as misdemeanors, which are classified as low-level crimes.
Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Michigan, on the other hand, classify adultery as a felony, which is an entirely different matter.
Numerous states, New Hampshire and Colorado, are among those that have attempted to repeal their adultery statutes on the basis of arguments comparable to those being presented in New York.
