Arizona recently made national news (again) because a man in Glendale, Arizona called the authorities to have his wife arrested under Arizona's adultery law. Apparently she had cheated on him for more than 10 years, but he didn't take any action earlier because of the children. She admits to having extramarital affairs, but says that they are separated and can't afford a divorce.

In Arizona there is a law that states that if a married person files a complaint against his or her spouse claiming that the spouse had sexual intercourse outside of the marriage with another person, the cheating spouse may be found guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.

You can find the law in Arizona Revised Statutes, ARS 13-1408. It reads as follows:

A married person who has sexual intercourse with another than his or her spouse, and an unmarried person who has sexual intercourse with a married person not his or her spouse, commits adultery and is guilty of a class 3 misdemeanor. When the act is committed between parties only one of whom is married, both shall be punished.
B. No prosecution for adultery shall be commenced except upon complaint of the husband or wife.

According to Phillips Law Group, a Class 3 misdemeanor is punishable by up to 30 days in jail and possible fines.

Of course, Arizona isn't the only state with laws making adultery a crime. I actually saw a map online indicating which states have such laws.

Should there be time limit (statute of limitations) on such a claim? Would fewer people cheat on their spouses if they thought jail time might be a consequence? Would fewer single people have affairs with married people if they knew they could be prosecuted?

Should adultery be a criminal matter, considering that Arizona is a no-fault divorce state (except in the case of a covenant marriage)?

At the time I first published this article, in January 2012, it was open to readers comments. Here are a few of the comments I received. This article is no longer open to comments.

 

1. "I think this is a dumb law I think it opens the doors to more retaliation and possibly bigger offences. The loss of jobs due to those who are jailed kids could suffer in the war between spouses. And there is nothing closer in than the line between love and hate. Many shootings have come from the wars between spouces. Ruining sombody’s life will not change the fact that the love is gone. And this law will just aide bitter people in keeping the fight going ! I’ve been married 34 yrs and do not condone adultery, But I say again this is a dumb law."
    
2. "Obviously, spouses who don’t commit adultery will support this law. Anyone who has been cheated on knows that it’s a fate worse than death–not only emotionally, but also physically, with today’s life-threatening STDs. If a spouse feels “the love is gone,” the cheating adulterer should have the decency to let the spouse know it before moving paramours into the house as my spouse did. It’s the cruelest, most inhumane act in the world. One can only hope that what goes around comes around. As one who studies adultery puts it, “If an adulterer does it with you, he’ll (she’ll) do it to you.” Only a morally corrupt adulterer is too foolish to see it."
    
3. "I got off active duty on 31 Dec 2012 and arrived home the 3rd week in January. I came home to a wife of 30 years who had a BF/FWB. I was very angry. The wife got an order of protection (actually a permit to be a tramp). One week after the order was delivered, I filed a police report with the City of Phoenix charging her and the predator with adultery. I received a formal letter stating that the City of Phoenix wasn’t going to do anything. NOW, we’re divorced and the City of Phoenix is charging me with a Class 1 misdemeanor for filing a police report. Claiming violation of ARS 13-2810A2, 13-3601A(DV) and 13-3981B. Where was the City of Phoenix of the State of Arizona that protected my rights or family from this predator while I was on active duty?"
    
4. "It sounds like from the stories here that Arizona doesn’t enforce it’s own adultery law. That’s ridiculous. Adultery should be against the law & enforced. It’s a form of abuse & abuse is against the law. I have never felt so suicidal and homicidal my whole life. Adultery turns people into mentally ill psychopaths. I say that the offender pays for the divorce, serves jail time, pays a hefty fine, and pays alimony for destroying another person’s soul, heart, and mind. These monsters need to learn a lesson, and since they have no heart and empathy, they need to learn it by losing their freedom and money, because that directly affects them and will be the only way they will actually feel hurt for the first time in their miserable lives. Also, the piece of sh*t they were having sex with needs to face the exact same penalties, minus the alimony. Those wastes of oxygen may just stop whoring it up afterwards. People suck. Why can’t people just be happy? Stop being so destructive to yourself and others. Stop being a statistic. How ordinary is that? Be extraordinary and just learn to f*cking love."