Adultery is no longer a crime in New York. Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill on Friday that removes a 117-year-old law that made adultery a class B misdemeanor, which could have led to up to 90 days in jail.
Hochul noted that it was “somewhat ironic” to sign this bill after being married for 40 years, but she recognized that relationships can be complicated. She stated that these issues should be handled by individuals, not the criminal justice system, and called the old law “silly” and outdated.
New York was one of 17 states that still considered adultery a crime, but it is now at least the fifth state to repeal such laws since 2015. The old law defined adultery as having sexual intercourse with someone while still married to another person.
However, this law was rarely enforced. Since 1979, only 10 people in New York faced adultery charges as their main offense, and the last known charge was in 2010 when a married woman was caught in a public park. That charge was later dropped.
State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Charles Lavine sponsored the bill to repeal the adultery law, and state lawmakers approved it earlier this year. The new law took effect immediately on Friday.
