AUGUSTA – If a Republican legislator from Newport has her way, adultery will once again be a crime in Maine.

Rep. Susan L. Kasprzak said sexual infidelity in marriage leads to a high divorce rate and all the social problems that come with it.

Kasprzak said her bill, LD 1443, to make adultery a Class D crime, punishable by up to a year in prison, would give pause to someone who may be thinking about cheating on a spouse.

“I think it’ll make them think it through before they get involved in an extramarital relationship and the damage it would cause to their family,” Kasprzak said.

Until the state adopted a new criminal code in 1976, adultery was a crime that carried a maximum sentence of five years, according to Assistant Attorney General Charles Leadbetter, an expert on criminal law.

The Maine Civil Liberties Union said it will oppose the legislation.

Sally Sutton, the MCLU’s executive director, said it would be a mistake to criminalize what would seem to be consensual acts between two adults.

Sutton also questioned the wisdom of using expensive jail space to confine adulterers.

“We don’t have the money to take care of the people incarcerated now, and rather than expand the list of people who are incarcerated, we need to look at who is most dangerous and use our prison beds as scarce resources and use them for the people who are most dangerous,” she said.

Kasprzak, who is married and has two children, said the legislation has nothing to do with her own situation. “I have the most wonderful marriage on the planet,” she said.

Kasprzak acknowledged that her bill faces an uphill battle and said some legislators weren’t taking her idea seriously. “I got some snickers in the House,” she said.

But she said it would be worthwhile if it sparks discussion about the sanctity of marriage.

“I think it will make good law and also makes a good point,” Kasprzak said. “If we can get people thinking about the destruction of the family, that would be a good thing.”

Maine had 10,158 marriages and 6,379 divorces in 1999, the most recent year for which statistics are available.