The present question pertains to whether or not it is now an outdated laws accidentally left on the books from decades past.
Adultery should be classified as a crime due to the physical, mental, and legal consequences that are incurred as a result of idiocy. The State of New York stipulates in Article 25.17 that adultery is a class B misdemeanor and is punishable by imprisonment of up to six months. The law explicates the following
a person is guilty of adultery when he engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse (New York State Law, 2010).
Marriage is a legal contract between a man and woman stipulating that certain benefits are to be shared only within the confines of matrimony. To evade from this theory demoralizes the institution of marriage and makes vivacity of marriage redundant.
The criminal act of adultery should remain a criminal act. The act of adultery only serves as a platform for future criminal behaviors. For instance, there have been instances reported in the media concerning one spouse catching the other spouse cheating. As a result, the cheating spouse has been murdered, which is later determined to have been deemed a crime of passion, or second degree murder. Adultery destroys families and has a bad effect on any children of the marriage. Children who have been subjected to a cheating parent often grow up with trust issues, intimacy issues, and the inability to engage in a productive and healthy relationship. It should also be added that the criminalizing of adultery stands to keep prostitution illegal. Prostitution may be the oldest profession, but it is by far the most immoral. Society has evolved in the way of making an honest living, and prostitution has no place in American society.
The state has a responsibility to establish the necessary boundaries by which members of the community live. The state bears the duty of keeping acts such as adultery illegal in order to serve and protect the people from their own self-destructive behaviors. Adultery protects those within a marriage from social disease (Pittman, 1989). Diseases like HIV and AIDS can easily be contracted but may not be detectable for up to ten years. Other social diseases like Gonorrhea, Syphilis, and Chlamydia are on the rise and have devastating consequences if not properly treated. The law upholding adultery as a crime protects children who are not old enough to consent to a sexual act. Finally, this law protects the contract of marriage by forcing a spouse to seek legal remedy in the form of dissolution of marriage in order to pursue sexual interests elsewhere.
There are four aspects related to the crime and problem of adultery. These aspects are moral, legal, religious, and culture. The moral focus of adultery is based on fidelity and trust (Pittman, 1989). Trust is something that cannot be easily replaced, especially within a marriage. Adultery shakes the foundation of a marriage due to the loss of physical and mental respect from the cheating spouse. Some marriages simply cannot endure the extreme violation of this trust. From a legal standpoint, adultery is a breach of contract. The cheating spouse has proven that they do not possess the fortitude to uphold the law. There is legal remedy for the injured spouse in the form of divorce. On the other hand, the cheating spouse may also find legal recourse for divorce citing that their infidelity was the result of their spouse withholding sex or not meeting ones sexual needs. Some states provide sexual discord as grounds for divorce. Lastly, the legal aspect surrounding adultery serves to discourage prostitution or any participation in. In New York, marriage is legal permission to have sex with ones spouse, but no other.
The aspects of religion and culture are intertwined. From the Christian standpoint, adultery is a sin against God. Repentance and penance must be served as a means of being forgiven, depending on the church one goes to. Adultery teaches spiritual forgiveness. It tests the spiritual faith and virtue of not only the spouses but of the marriage itself. Sex is viewed as a sacred act for the sole purpose of having kids, as this is Gods plan, but adultery is a sin from that doctrine. In the Muslim culture, if a woman is caught cheating on her husband, she is to be publically stoned to death. The criminalizing of adultery deters individuals from other cultures from committing acts of violence here in the United States. It encourages the person to pursue the matter in a legal court of law rather than taking the law into their own hands. If a man is caught cheating, he is celebrated. Different cultures have different views concerning the act of adultery. Some cultures support the lifestyle of having more than one wife, although the practice is illegal in the United States. These aspects have a direct effect upon the person who has been cheated on and a lasting effect on the spouse who is cheating.
The legal age to consent to have sex in New York is seventeen years of age. It is odd that one must be eighteen in order to vote in an election, and they must be twenty-one in order to purchase alcohol but they can have sex at seventeen. It is painfully obvious that this law is either not known about or simply is being ignored. Being single and a parent has become the norm. Teenage mothers are seen everyday walking the streets, pushing baby strollers, standing in welfare lines, and dropping out of school. Instead of enjoying the fruits of their labor many parents, now grandparents are raising their grandchildren due to the lack of maturity from their own children. It is disrespectful to the grandparents and neglectful to the children involved when the natural parents simply refuse to take care of their responsibilities. Children are having sex at younger ages all the time. Oral sex is now just something to do on a date much like going to the movies was years ago (Gruen Panichas, 1997). In the life of teenagers in this day and time, sex is just a recreational activity without emotional attachment or any real meaning beyond the physical act.
The age of legal consent needs to be raised in New York to eighteen, but not without the adding of certain attached rules. Individuals under the age of eighteen caught having sex should be subject to criminal penalties within the family court system. Court ordered counseling, health testing, and fines should be imposed on those who violate the new law. Offenders of the new law should also be held in a juvenile detention facility for a period not exceeding six-months for new offenses. It is sick at how Americas youth have no respect or regard for the law and what it stands for (Gruen Panichas, 1997). If a female becomes knocked up while under the age of eighteen, then she should be denied access to any state welfare other than for that of her child. Unless a doctor decides that she is unable to participate, pregnant females should be made to attend school and assigned a truancy officer to enforce the rule. Sexual misconduct is ruining the upcoming generation. It is time the State of New York take action in order to protect itself from any further immoral decay.
The subjects of adultery and underage sexual activity are hot topics in the State of New York. Many legal, cultural, religious, and moral aspects have astounding influences on the reasons behind the laws as they are written. While some argue the point of the state not having any legal right to determine who has sex with whom, the fact remains on the contrary. The state does have a legally bound right to protect and serve all citizens within its geographical boundaries. It would be a pleasantry to see the adultery law put into action more frequently in New York, as it would serve as a deterrence to those who anticipate cheating on their spouse. The devastating effects imposed on a spouse who has been cheated on are damning. Families suffer tremendous pain and anguish and some never fully heal from the emotional trauma. There is much to be considered in the way of adultery. Six months in jail is a minimal punishment considering the lifetime worth of damage that stands to be done at the hands of the cheating spouse. New York should be applauded for its efforts to bring morality back into the lives of its married citizens.
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