In New York, Husbands Can Cheat Without Fear of Jail: Century-Old Adultery Law Repealed!

New York (The Uttam Hindu): New York has officially repealed a more than century-old law that made adultery a crime, a move seen as a step toward modernizing the state's legal framework. On Friday, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill removing the statute, which was first enacted in 1907. The law made it a misdemeanor to cheat on a spouse, with penalties that could have included three months in jail. However, the law had long been considered outdated and difficult to enforce.

Governor Hochul, reflecting on her own 40-year marriage, noted that while signing the bill was somewhat ironic, the law had no place in modern society. She emphasized that matters of adultery should be handled privately, not by the criminal justice system. New York's adultery law defined the offense as engaging in sexual intercourse with someone other than a spouse, and it had rarely been used in practice. Since the 1970s, only about a dozen people have been charged under this law, with just five resulting in convictions.

State Assemblymember Charles Lavine, who sponsored the bill, pointed out that the law no longer served its original purpose of deterring anti-social behavior. The law had not been enforced since 2010 and had been under consideration for repeal as far back as the 1960s, when a state commission concluded it was unenforceable. Despite initial support for repeal in the 1960s, lawmakers had backed down after concerns that eliminating the law might imply state approval of infidelity.