A majority of New Hampshire Supreme Court justices appeared Wednesday to favor a narrow definition of adultery in their comments on a disputed Lebanon Family Court ruling that said gay extramarital sex should count as adultery....
The justices heard oral arguments in an appeal brought by a gay woman from Brownsville who is accused of adultery in the pending divorce action of a Hanover couple. "My position is New Hampshire has no same-sex adultery," said Robin Mayer, who represented herself in her appeal to the court. The 1791 adultery statute was meant to apply only to heterosexual intercourse, she said.
...While none of the justices explicitly supported either side in the debate, several of them indicated they see obstacles to an expansive interpretation of the law."Our task is to be sure we interpret the constitution and these laws in line with what people thought at the time," Justice Joseph Nadeau said.
...Justice James Duggan said that without a "bright line" defining prohibited sex acts, it will be very difficult to decide what kind of conduct constitutes adultery.
..."The Ten Commandments say, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.' It doesn't say, 'Thou shalt not have an intimate relationship with someone,' " Nadeau said....
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) filed a brief calling for equal treatment...."Gay and lesbian relationships are as significant as non-gay ones and therefore pose the same threat to the marital union. . . . New Hampshire courts should treat gay adultery the same no matter the gender of the person with whom a spouse engages in an extramarital relationship," they wrote.
...Adultery is a misdemeanor crime under New Hampshire law, and the criminal statute defines adultery simply as sexual intercourse between a married person and someone who is not that person's spouse. The criminal statute doesn't define the term "sexual intercourse."