Lawmakers in New York state are currently working on passing legislation that would eliminate the offense of adultery within the context of marriage, thereby legalizing adultery.
Marital infidelity continues to be considered a criminal offense in New York, along with 15 other states. Adultery is still regarded as a felony in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
Meanwhile, adultery, which has been on the books since 1907, is a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a $500 fine or 90 days in jail, and New York lawmakers are poised to abolish it.
The law was implemented at a time when adultery was the sole ground for divorce, and lawmakers were resolute in their efforts to decrease the divorce rate.
The first prosecution, which took place weeks after the law came into effect, involved a married Coney Island investor who left his wife for a 25-year-old woman who was working in the millinery section of a department store.
Prosecutions are now extremely rare, with only about a dozen since 1972, with convictions in five cases.
The last was in New York in 2010, involving an incident in a park. However, the case was dropped as part of a plea deal.
Democrat Charles Lavine introduced a bill in New York to decriminalize adultery, stating that the government should not interfere in the consensual sexual activities of adults.
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He added, “It just makes no sense whatsoever and we’ve come a long way since intimate relationships between consenting adults are considered immoral.
It’s a joke. This law was someone’s expression of moral outrage.”
The attempts to scrap the law were made several times with the first time one brought up as far back as 1964. However, despite these proposals, no modifications to the law have ever been implemented.
The bill has passed through the New York Assembly and is now awaiting approval from the state senate.
With politicians now regarding the law as archaic, the measure is set to be confined to legislative history in New York.
Meanwhile, the Catholic church has not objected to the proposed change, as the Executive Director of the New York Catholic Conference, Dennis Poust, said, “Adultery is a sin. I don’t know if it’s a crime.”
Republican lawmakers on the other hand, criticized Democrats for passing the measure while failing to finalize a multi-billion-dollar spending package.
“We should be making sure that the budget is in place and making sure that we can fund the things we need to fund in this state,” Republican Assemblyman Michael Reilly said.
Long Islander Michael Durso represents the district where slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller’s family lives. He accused Democrats of wasting time on the adultery bill, arguing they should focus on public safety.
“There’s a woman at home who just buried her husband because he was murdered by a criminal. We have a list and a package of bills here that we could be voting on and it’s not coming to the floor, because the majority refuses to bring it to the floor. Instead of wasting our time and BS-ing around, we could be making change,” GOP Assemblyman Mike Durso said.
But supporters argued that the legislature can do both.
“We can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can be negotiating a budget, working on a budget, which is never done on the floor of the legislature, and also debate bills at the same time,” Krueger said.
“The last extender went through Thursday, so I think the idea would be to push it another couple of days, but I think we are starting to make progress. Hopefully, wrap it up in the next few days,” Deputy Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris said.
Lawmakers must pass a budget extender by April 4 so some state workers can get paid, according to the State Division of the Budget.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s Office said another budget extender must be passed by April 8 to cover the bulk of state workers.
Written by Adeluola Biola
