Cheating on your spouse is a crime in New York. Why?

You’d be forgiven for chucking your spouse’s clothes out the window and obliterating them on the fire of your marriage if you caught them cheating.

But you could have them locked behind bars instead thanks to a little-known law that makes adultery illegal.

That could be a problem for the one in five British adults who’ve been unfaithful, according to a YouGov survey.

But only if they’re caught sneaking around on the other side of the Atlantic.

New York State’s more than 100-year-old state adultery law is a relic of an era when relations between consenting adults were regulated, even if they took place behind closed doors.

But that could soon change, allowing adulterers to cheat without fear of prosecution thanks to a bill sponsored by State Assembly member Charles Lavine.

He said: ‘It just makes no sense whatsoever and we’ve come a long way since intimate relationships between consenting adults are considered immoral.

‘It’s a joke. This law was someone’s expression of moral outrage.’

What is the New York adultery ban?

Cheating on your spouse has been illegal in New York since 1907.

The state penal code defines it as when a person ‘engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse’.

It is classed as a misdemeanour, a type of crime punishable by no more than a year in prison.

Why does New York have an adultery ban?

Bans on adultery have a long history, often linked to religious rules.

Such laws are found in the Old Testament and have been implemented in many different countries and cultures.

Adultery was briefly banned in England in the 1650s.

Many of these laws were introduced at a time when adultery was one of the only reasons to be granted a divorce, so the laws may have sought to discourage divorces.

Another suggestion is they’re introduced to punish women and discourage affairs that’d cast doubt on a child’s parentage, according to Katharine B Silbaugh, a law professor at Boston University, AP reported.

It’s likely still on the books in New York more than 100 years after it was introduced ‘because no politician wants to risk the optics’, according to family law experts Stepanian Law Firm.

The law was nearly repealed in the 1960s because it was impossible to enforce, but that attempt failed due to politicians fearing a backlash, AP reported.

Does adultery affect alimony in New York?

No, cheating on your partner won’t affect alimony, the money a court orders people to to provide to their spouse after divorce.

Although adultery is grounds for a divorce, it doesn’t automatically entitle you or your spouse to more of the marital assets, or higher child support or alimony, when you part ways, according to Stepanian Law Firm.

But that doesn’t mean it has no consequence in divorce proceedings.

The family law firm said: ‘A court may offset your equitable share of marital property to the extent you used marital funds to fund your affair.’

Can you sue the person your spouse cheated with in New York?

A married man and a 25-year-old woman became the first people arrested under New York’s adultery law just weeks after it was introduced in 1907.

Their arrests came after the man’s wife sued for divorce.

However, this isn’t the same as the wife suing the person her husband cheated on her with.

Several US states do allow you to sue someone for ‘wrecking’ your marriage, but New York is not one of them.

How is adultery punished in the US?

Other states are also moving to repeal adultery laws, including Colorado and New Hampshire.

Most that still have such laws on the books treat them as misdemeanours.

But it’s a felony offence – the most serious class of crimes – in Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Michigan.

In Oklahoma, adultery carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, or a $500 fine.

The punishment is a fine of up to $10,000 or 3.5 years in prison in Wisconsin.

It’s five years or a fine of up to $5,000 in Michigan.

New York’s punishment seems light compared to these, with a maximum penalty of 90 days in prison and a $500 fine.

But this is almost never enforced.

Only around a dozen people have been charged under the law since 1972, AP reported.

Just five of those have ended in convictions.

The last time someone was charged was in 2010, but this charge was dropped when the woman, who was caught having sex in a public park, agreed a plea deal.

Many charges under the adultery law are dropped as a result of defendants admitting to the more serious charges they face.

Stepanian Law Firm said: ‘As a practical matter, you’re unlikely to be criminally prosecuted for adultery in New York.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.