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Possibly the style was set up to punctuate inside the close quote because of
the spacing on the page. At one time the comma or period was siituated
directly below the close quote... on an aesthetic level, it looks "neater" to
have it inside the quote.
On situation where I disagree with this standard is if there is a question
mark. In that case, I would put the question mark OUTSIDE the close quote
unless the quote itself poses the question.
Another instance is a quote within a quote:
1a) According to John, Mary said "My mom says 'Anyone who does this is a
moron.' "
1b) According to John, Mary said "My mom says 'Anyone who does this is a
moron'."
The latter just seems to flow better.
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