“Vão morrer na rua igual barata”: uma análise do recrudescimento do Estado penal a partir do “Pacote Anticrime”

Abstract

In February 2019, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security put forward to the National Congress a series of tougher measures to combat corruption, organised crime and serious violent crimes, which are part of the so-called “Anticrime Package”. The “Package” was divided in three bills and has been in the Chamber of Deputies since then, also forwarded at a later point to the Federal Senate. The bills propose amendments to 14 different laws, primarily focused on Criminal Law and Criminal Process Law. However, despite promises to improve Public Security, the bills are considered controversial by some of the jurists when it comes to feasibility and the constitutionality of the proposed changes. This paper aims at analysing where the “Package” fits in current Brazilian Criminal Law as well as how it could potentially affect criminality in Brazil. Therefore, the tougher measures on crime are thoroughly scrutinised, especially those already being enforced such as mass incarceration and the use of lethal force by the Police. The research involved a review of current data regarding Public Security, violence, police brutality, Criminal Law as well as a thorough analysis of the “Package” itself and related bills, including how current policies would be affected if the bill becomes Law. Lastly, the approach used in this paper’s analysis is based on the critical criminology analysis, the idea of the so-called “Resistance killing” and the State that allows such mechanism. Moreover, we can conclude that the Federal Government’s proposal consists in potentialising the effects of a genocidal Policy that picks a selected group of people, such as the young black men living in the outskirts of the cities, considering them as dangerous.