Public Security, Criminal Policy and Sentencing in Brazil during the Lula and Dilma Governments, 2003-2014: Changes and Continuities

Abstract

Since mid-1980s crime rates in Brazil started to increase with the transition from military dictatorship to democracy, a period marked by the rise of poverty and hyperinflation. Given levels of police corruption and protection of criminal gangs, trust in the criminal justice system was low, leading to a heightened dependence on private security, gated communities and the politicisation of law and order politics. An impressive punitive turn began at in the 1990s. This paper analysed penal policies under successive left-wing Lula and Dilma governments from 2003 to 2014. During this period the rise of 'postneoliberal' and 'postneoconservative' politics, led by the Workers Party, developed governmental strategies and initiatives that formulated and legitimized rich and complex expressions of traditionally left-wing politics. Despite the simultaneous implementation of distributive policies, the increase of human development levels throughout the country, the reduction of social inequalities and the redirection of the official discourse of Federal Government security policies towards crime prevention, incarceration rates continued to increase. This article examines why efforts to build an effective public security policy committed to upholding civil rights and improving the control of police and police activities have failed. KeywordsIncarceration rates; Brazil; law and order politics; punitive populism.

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“…An example of such policy reorientation was the Heinous Crimes Law of 1990 (Law #8,072), that established not only longer incarceration periods for those committing crimes with cruelty, but also prohibited the progression of prison regime (Macaulay, 2002). 6 Soon after this Law was passed, pre-trial detainees became 1/3 of the prison population, a proportion that remained stable in subsequent decades (Cifali & de Azevedo, 2017).…”

“…This program aimed at regaining control over crime inside and outside prison units (Adorno, 2008), exhibiting a more preventive tone and advocating the humanization of the prison system (Madeira & Rodrigues, 2015). The emphasis on preventive measures was maintained in the II National Public Security Plan (2003) and the National Citizenship Security Program (PRONASCI, Portuguese acronym) (2007) (Cifali & de Azevedo, 2017). Both initiatives highlighted the citizen security paradigm, implying that actions and decisions emanating from the Ministry of Justice should promote and warrant human rights (Madeira & Rodrigues, 2015).…”

“…By creating new penitentiaries and transferring PCC leaders, Brazilian authorities inadvertently contributed to the expansion and strengthening of the organization (Duarte & de Araújo, 2020). 8 Law #11,343 came into force in 2006 strengthening the war on drugs boosting the rate of incarceration (Cifali & de Azevedo, 2017). The legislation exempted drug users from prison terms, granting them medical treatment and alternative penalties (Campos & Alvarez, 2017), while tightening the punishments for drug dealers, including a minimum of five years and a maximum of 15 years of imprisonment (Campos, 2014).…”

“…There were two major consequences of Law #11,343. Firstly, the explosion in the number of individuals arrested for drug trafficking, adding immense pressure to the precarious prison system (Cifali & de Azevedo, 2017). Since 2007, this offense has accounted for nearly one-third of all incarcerations carried out in Brazil (Dias, 2017), involving mainly young black residents from poor urban areas (Sinhoretto, 2018).…”

“…Secondly, it has enhanced the growth of PCC and its spread to most states (Manso & Dias, 2017), which often led to disputes for domination within and outside the detention facilities with other criminal organizations (Dias & Salla, 2013, 2019. 9 In summary, the combination of the Heinous Crimes Law (1990), the RDD law (2003) and the Drug Law (2006) triggered the accelerated growth of the inmate population over the last three decades (Cifali & de Azevedo, 2017). The prison system was unable to keep up with the growing demand, and despite the creation of new prison units across the country, overcrowding remains a dominant feature (Dias, 2017).…”