LI Dem’s quest to repeal obscure 1907 edict outlawing adultery
New York is finally settling its affairs.
A more than century-old law makes it a crime to cheat on your spouse in the Empire State — but the antiquated rule could soon be put to bed.
Under the state law enacted in 1907, adultery is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a $500 fine. Fewer than a dozen people have been charged under the statute over the last five decades.
But Long Island Assemblyman Charles Lavine believes it is time to do repeal the little-known statute — noting it has primarily been used to target women.
“The fact of the matter is in New York and elsewhere, it is primarily women who are prosecuted for this offense,” the Glen Cove Democrat told The Post on Wednesday.
“Because most of those charged are women, it stigmatizes and victimizes women.”
The 76-year-old married man noted that his wife was also on board with the repeal because she is “a huge advocate for women’s rights and human rights.”
The law appears to have been written in an attempt to curb the state’s divorce rate, at a time when claiming adultery was the only paths to legally split up, according to Politico.
Lavine noted it was “impossible to determine how many prosecutions” happened in the early days.
But at least five people have been convicted of it since the 1970s, his office said, most recently in 2010.
That year, a married Batavia woman, Suzanne Corona, was charged with adultery after being arrested for having sex with another man on a playground.
She later pleaded guilty to public lewdness after prosecutors dropped the more serious adultery charge, according to CBS News.
Letter of the law
Section 255.17 of the penal code says that a suspect is guilty if “he engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse.”
That language might not be around much longer though — Lavine’s bill was “overwhelmingly” approved in the Assembly and could be introduced in the state Senate by sponsor Liz Krueger by the end of the legislative session.
“This bill is a good bill, and I am pleased that it is passed,” Lavine said.