The FFRF Action Fund is elated that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed into law a bill repealing an antiquated provision that had made adultery a crime in the state.
Assembly Bill 4714, which the New York Legislature approved earlier this year, sought to repeal a law from 1907 making adultery a crime in New York. The archaic measure had historically been used to target women. Legislators in New York decided that there is no need for the state to take action against the private lives of its citizens. The “crime” of adultery is based on Old Testament law and has no place in a modern secular society.
Prosecutions under the now-repealed law had been rare, and convictions even more so. But with the U.S. Supreme Court showing a desire to draw on antiquated legislation again, the New York Legislature and Gov. Hochul did the right thing by getting this law off the books. Repealing outdated laws is a crucial duty of state legislators, even if those laws are not currently being enforced. After long-dormant anti-abortion laws sprung back into effect all over the country following the overturn of Roe, we learned the danger of letting such ancient regulations sit on the books. Originally enacted to complicate divorce proceedings during a time when proving infidelity was a prerequisite for legal separation, adultery laws, such as the one New York has repealed, do nothing other than allow the government to enforce their morals onto private citizens.
At least three other states (Wisconsin, Michigan and Oklahoma) still have felony adultery laws on the books while adultery is a misdemeanor in 14 other states (Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia), as well as in Puerto Rico. The FFRF Action Fund encourages all of those states to follow New York’s lead and get rid of these laws.
“During a time when the Supreme Court has signaled its desire to revisit outdated laws such as the Comstock Act, revising antiquated measures such as the felony adultery law in New York is a must,” says FFRF Action Fund Senior Policy Counsel Ryan Jayne. “These laws have shown no real purpose other than allowing lawmakers to enforce their personal religious beliefs onto others.”
FFRF Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization that develops and advocates for legislation, regulations and government programs to preserve the constitutional principle of separation between state and church. It also advocates for the rights and views of nonbelievers, endorses candidates for political office, and publicizes the views of elected officials concerning religious liberty issues.