ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the adultery offense, which criminalizes extramarital affairs. While adultery was once considered a serious offense, many jurisdictions today have decriminalized it, and those which have kept the offense rarely bother to prosecute it. The chapter begins with the case of Frank Sinatra, the famous musician who engaged in adulterous relationships throughout his career and was once arrested for the offense but was never prosecuted. The chapter then discusses the case of Laura and William Geisselman, a couple who both engaged in adulterous relationships during their marriage and were both arrested and convicted of adultery on separate occasions. The chapter discusses the shifts in societal perspectives on adultery over time and reveals the state diversity in adultery offenses, which have been repealed in many jurisdictions but remain in others. The chapter debates whether or not the criminal law should be responsible for morality enforcement and questions whether morally offensive actions, such as adultery, should warrant criminal liability. The chapter then questions the potential problems that arise when certain behavior, such as adultery, is criminalized but is never prosecuted and discusses how this may threaten the law’s moral credibility.
