ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND RACISM Access to justice and racism

an analysis of the habeas corpus 208.240/SP trial in the Supreme Court of Brazil

Abstract

This paper presents the discourses from the trial of HC 208.240/SP, which debated racial profiling in the Supreme Court of Brazil. It analyzes how the narratives dialogue with a critical perspective of access to justice and racism, established by the authors Zafallon, Pires, Flauzina and Alves. The aim is to investigate whether patterns of “judicial shielding”, defined by Zafallon, and “coloniality of justice” reported in Pires, Flauzina and Alves are identified in the trial. The specific case, the legal and jurisprudential framework, the opinion of the “Vice Procuradora Geral da República” and the votes of the Ministers are described. Aspects of the trial are analyzed, correlating them with concepts of reverse racism; racism by denial; myth of racial democracy; narcissistic pact; coloniality of justice and judicial shielding. It concludes that more similarities than differences can be identified, compared to the perspectives indicated by the authors. However, a relevant differential is identified in the trial: the existence of dissenting voices from the majority, who sought to oppose the hegemonic discourse, based on more contextualized concepts regarding the peculiar way of acting of racism in Brazil. It signals the expectation of an improvement to the democratization of criminal justice in view of the opportunity for the Supreme Court to express itself again on the subject, in the trial of the "Ação de Descumprimento de Preceito Fundamental 973”, which deals with the recognition of the state of systematic violation of the fundamental rights of the black population of the country.