Cheating on your spouse is no longer a crime in New York

New York on Friday repealed a rarely used, more than a century-old law that criminalized cheating on a spouse — a misdemeanor that once could land adulterers in jail for three months.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation repealing a statute that dates back to 1907 and was long considered outdated and difficult to enforce.

“While I’ve been fortunate to share a loving married life with my husband for 40 years — which is somewhat ironic given that I signed the bill decriminalizing adultery — I know that people often have complex relationships,” she said.

“Clearly these matters should be handled by these individuals, not our criminal justice system. Let’s get rid of this stupid, outdated statute, once and for all.”

Adultery bans are actually the law in several states and were enacted to make divorce more difficult at a time when proving a spouse had cheated was the only way to get a legal divorce.

Accusations were rare, and convictions even rarer.

Some states have also repealed their adultery laws in recent years.

New York defined adultery as when a person “engages in sexual intercourse with another person while he or she has a living spouse or the other person has a living spouse.”

The state law was first used weeks after it took effect, according to a New York Times article, to arrest a married man and a 25-year-old woman.

State Assemblyman Charles Lavine, the bill’s sponsor, said about a dozen people have been charged under the law since the 1970s, and only five of those cases have resulted in convictions.

“The laws are intended to protect our community and act as a deterrent to anti-social behaviour. New York’s adultery law has not advanced either purpose,” Lavine said in a statement Friday.

The state law appears to have last been used in 2010 against a woman who was caught having sex in a park, but the adultery charge was later dropped as part of a plea deal.

New York came close to repealing the law in the 1960s after a state commission charged with evaluating the penal code said it was nearly impossible to enforce.

At the time, lawmakers initially agreed to repeal the ban, but ultimately decided to keep it after one politician argued that repealing it would make it look like the state was officially endorsing infidelity, according to a 1965 New York Times article.