ABSTRACT
The universe of criminal cases in which a question of culture has been raised as pertinent to criminal defense is diverse, eclectic, and complex. Categorization is determined by the particular nature of the controversy raised by the case, and accordingly the authors identify them as Intra-cultural controversies, Inter-cultural controversies, and Culturally variable controversies. Intra-cultural controversies are composed of cases in which a criminal controversy is generated by a state's legal involvement with, or intrusion into, the internal affairs and activities of some minority cultural community. Cultural information about Kargar's conduct made it clear that his actions were considered sexually innocent within Afghan culture, and thus such actions fell outside the range of conduct the legislators intended to sanction by means of criminalization. The public standards of conduct that operate inter-culturally are necessary in order to facilitate the operation of social life in a multicultural state and diffuse the problem of pluralism.
