NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4714
SPONSOR: Lavine TITLE OF BILL:
An act to repeal section 255.17 of the penal law relating to the crime
of adultery
PURPOSE:
To decriminalize adultery
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 repeals section 255.17 of the penal law.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
This outdated statute criminalizes sexual behavior between consenting
adults as a Class B Misdemeanor, punishable by up to three months in
prison and a fine of up to $500. The state has no business regulating
the consensual sexual behavior between adults. It is long-past time for
us to remove this statute from the penal law.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021 - 2022: A100 (Quart)
2019 - 2020: A11073 (Quart)
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None to the state.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take place immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4714
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 22, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LAVINE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Codes
AN ACT to repeal section 255.17 of the penal law relating to the crime
of adultery
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 255.17 of the penal law is REPEALED.
2 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09649-01-3
