COVID-19 in prisons: a study of habeas corpus decisions by the São Paulo Court of Justice

Natalia Pires De Vasconcelos,Daniel Wei Liang Wang,Maíra Rocha Machado

doi:10.1590/0034-761220200536x

Natalia Pires De Vasconcelos, Daniel Wei Liang Wang + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-761220200536x

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Abstract

Abstract Brazil has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Global South-a pandemic that disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, especially those detained and imprisoned. Legal institutions are struggling to respond. In this paper, we focus on the National Council of Justice’s Recommendation 62, issued March 17, 2020, which recommends that judges take several measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection in prisons. We test this recommendation’s impact by looking at habeas corpus decisions in the São Paulo Court of Justice. The exploratory findings presented here indicate that Recommendation 62 has little impact on habeas decisions. In general, citing the recommendation does not lead the Court to grant early release or house arrest to those detained, and most habeas actions are decided against petitioners. This is true even when petitioners claim to be part of a risk group, or their alleged offense did not involve violence or serious threat-factors that should favor habeas relief under Recommendation 62.

Highlights

Brazil has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Global South—and one of the epicenters worldwide
The authors would like to thank all of the scholars and practitioners who have commented on an earlier version of this draft presented in two seminars held by the Institute of Education and Research (Insper), and by the Fundação Getulio Vargas Law School in São Paulo
We collected every one of the 6,771 habeas decisions made by the São Paulo Court of Justice, extracted from the Court’s official gazettes (“diário oficial”) where its decisions are published on a daily basis

Summary

Introduction

Brazil has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Global South—and one of the epicenters worldwide. As of May 31, the pandemic had killed over 28,000 people, with a toll of nearly 1,000 deaths every day (Ministério da Saúde, 2020). The pandemic disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, especially those detained and imprisoned (Rodrigues, 2020; Incarceration and Law, 2020). Over the last quarter century, Brazil’s prison and jail population grew from 73,000 people in 1995 to over 748,000 in 2019 (more than one-third of whom are under pre-trial detention). The country has the third largest prison population in the world. There is severe overcrowding in the prison system. The occupancy in Brazil’s prisons and jails is over twice its designed capacity (Conselho Nacional do Ministério Público [CNMP], 2019; Departamento Penitenciário Nacional [DEPEN], 2019; Walmsley, 2018)

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