(Mis)identifying Culture: Asian Women and the “Cultural Defense”

The "cultural defense"' is a legal strategy that defendants use in attempts to excuse criminal behavior or to mitigate culpability based on a lack of requisite mens rea. 2 Defendants may also use "cultural defenses" to present evidence relating to state of mind when arguing self defense or mistake of fact.The theory underlying the defense is that the defendant, usually a recent immigrant to the United States, acted according to the dictates of his or her "culture," and therefore deserves leniency. 3There is, however, no formal "cultural defense"; individual de-