When do or should customs trump law?

[Blarg]

A story I saw at yahoo.com reminded me of an issue that is very hard to handle without being accused of some sort of "ism" -- what do you do when people's customs and beliefs clash with the law of their country?

This can be especially tricky when the alleged "perp" is from another country, and it could at least be thrown out there that maybe they didn't know some of the laws they're being judged under. Tricky at best, and not necessarily relevant, because ignorance is commonly held to be no excuse regarding law.

Examples I've read about:

1. Cambodian guys, 20's, given a German shepherd puppy as a present by a neighbor. They cave in its head and eat it. Against American law.

2. Koreans in L.A. think a woman being listless and unhappy, and not particularly respectful of her husband, means demonic infestation. They subject her to a harrowing weekend of shouting, rolling her up in sheets, sitting and standing on her chest, finally suffocating her by having multiple members of the husband's family standing on her chest in an attempt to drive out the demons. This breaks any number of American laws.

3. Hmongs in California have a big problem with this type of thing: 20-ish Hmong man decides he wants to marry a 14-year-old Hmong girl. So in keeping with tradition, he kidnaps her, against her will, and rapes her and keeps her locked up to make her his wife. Against American law, clearly.

Results: 1. Dog boys not charged; 2. minor sentences for the religious chest stompers; 3. No charges are brought against kidnapping rapist.

And now for the yahoo story:

Female circumcision on the rise in Britain

Europe has had to deal with Muslims with the veil problem, as have New York cops with Orthodox Jewish females, who are not allowed to touch tickets the officers give them, don't want to be photographed for licenses, etc.

How fair do you think it is that laws be bent or changed based on the nationalities, race, or ethnicity of the person they are being applied to, and how serious a problem do you think this is here and will become, here in America and elsewhere?

Or just any part of that ...