Cultural Convergence: Interest Convergence Theory Meets the Cultural Defense

Defendants who successfully introduce cultural evidence in their defense have one thing in common—the cultural norms underlying their claims are either similar to or complement American cultural norms, including retrograde racist and sexist norms. This Article argues that cultural convergence is one way to understand these results. Cultural convergence is the idea that the cultural defense claims of minority and immigrant defendants are more likely to receive accommodation when there is convergence between their cultural norms and American cultural norms.