Crime Statute Application: The Case Of Adultery In The State Of Arizona

Crime Statute Application

I selected the crime of Adultery, in the state of Arizona. It is illegal under Section 13-1408 of the Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S. section 13-1408). I chose this particular statute because I have always viewed adultery as morally wrong, but I never considered it to be criminal conduct. In this application, I examine the elements of crime and the issues that arise when discussing mens rea and actus reus, and how evidence for such conduct would be hard to obtain. I also consider whether the crime should be more of a civil liability concern, rather than criminal conduct, and how there may be issues with making the punishment more severe. Overall, there is not much room for discussion when thinking about the defense

section 13-1408). The conduct would not be criminal if it were two unmarried individuals cheating on a boyfriend, girlfriend, or partner, rather than a spouse. However, similar to the case of United States v. Feola, one would question the case in which the unmarried person did not know that the married person was married, and they would try to argue that because they did not know they were married, they should not be charged with the crime. Because the status of being married is an attendant circumstance, could the unmarried person argue this? Probably not, because we have already established that this crime holds strict liability, and the level of intent, existent or not, would not matter, and the individual would still be convicted (United States v. Feola, 1975). Another attendant circumstance laid out in the statute is that no prosecution can take place unless it was reported by the spouse of the adulterer.

The result would be the sexual act taking place, but also the spouse finding out and deciding to report the conduct because it is likely that this crime happens a lot but not as many people are convicted for it because the spouse never found out or never reported it. But, since not all crimes require a specific result to occur (Fradella, p. 67), one may be unsure of whether it needs to be proven that the adultery took place, or if lower levels of proof for the burden of persuasion would