Glen Cove, New York – Assemblymember Charles Lavine (D-North Shore) has issued the following statement in response to the signing by Governor Kathy Hochul of his bill (A4714) to decriminalize adultery in the State of New York.

“I am very gratified that Governor Kathy Hochul has signed my bill and Senator Liz Krueger’s bill repealing New York’s 117-year-old adultery law.

When enacted in 1907, the law was severely criticized for punishing intimate behavior.

New York now joins other states such as West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Utah, Idaho, and Minnesota in decriminalizing adultery. The District of Columbia has also repealed its adultery law.

Laws are meant to protect our community and to serve as a deterrent to anti-social behavior. New York’s adultery law advanced neither purpose.

The United Nations Human Rights Commission issued a report in 2012 advocating that adultery should not be a criminal offense. It noted that it is mostly women who are charged with adultery. Adultery carries the death sentence in far too many countries. Adultery laws stigmatize, unfairly punish, and victimize women and their families.

I want to sincerely thank Governor Kathy Hochul for signing this highly significant bill into law.

New York once again moves to the forefront of the battle to protect and maintain our fundamental human and constitutional rights.”

Headshot photo courtesy of the Office of Assemblymember Charles Lavine