Adultery, a crime of the heart, is no longer a crime in the state of New York.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill Friday repealing the more-than-a-century-old law that classified cheating as a class B misdemeanor and landed debauchers behind bars for up to 90 days.
“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,” the governor said in a statement.
“These matters should clearly be handled by these individuals and not our criminal justice system. Let’s take this silly, outdated statute off the books, once and for all.”
Hochul is New York’s first happily married governor in roughly two decades. The marriages of each of her three immediate predecessors — David Paterson, Eliot Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo — were all plagued with extramarital affairs scandals and ended in divorce.
None, however, were sent to prison for their alleged cheating — even Spitzer, who famously stepped out on his wife to indulge in a sex ring.
