Overview

• The now-repealed law, enacted in 1907, classified adultery as a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a fine.
• Governor Kathy Hochul emphasized that personal relationships should not be governed by the criminal justice system, calling the law 'silly and outdated.'
• Adultery laws were historically intended to deter divorces when proving infidelity was often the only legal path to separation.
• Since the 1970s, only about a dozen people in New York have been charged under the law, with just five resulting in convictions.
• While New York has repealed its adultery ban, 16 other U.S. states still consider adultery a criminal offense, though enforcement is rare.