New York State is home to a slew of bizarre laws you probably weren’t aware of, but Governor Kathy Hochul just recently repealed a 117-year-old law that made adultery a class B misdemeanor punishable by 90 days of jail time.
In the press conference, Governor Hochul said
While I’ve been fortunate to share a loving married life with my husband for 40 years — making it somewhat ironic for me to sign a bill decriminalizing adultery — I know that people often have complex relationships…These matters should clearly be handled by these individuals and not our criminal justice system.
As you can imagine, the law was rarely enforced, with only around 13 cases of adultery filed in the state since the 70s. It’s assumed only about five of those 13 cases led to a conviction. The first arrest under the 117-year-old adultery law can be traced back to an old New York Times article, naming both Patrick H. Hirsch and Ruby Yeargin, apprehended under a warrant from Mrs. Hirsch. The couple was held for a $500 bail in 1907.
The original Penal Law § 255.17 defined someone guilty of adultery when one “engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when [they have] a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse.”
Some other class B misdemeanors in New York include issuing a bad check, stalking in the fourth degree, public lewdness, and criminal trespass in the third degree.
Adultery bans remain in effect in several other states, such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Kansas and more.