Carandiru case

a socio-legal study (1st part)

Abstract

A conflict between the inmates of Pavilion 9 of the Carandiru Detention House, on October 2, 1992, was violently repressed with the invasion of the São Paulo Military Police. One hundred and eleven prisoners were found dead after the episode, which is considered the largest massacre in the history of Brazilian penitentiaries. This work addresses this violent conflict from the point of view of the trajectory of its institutional repercussions. Using structuration theory, it seeks to verify to what extent the institutions themselves destined for conflict resolution (for example, the Military Justice) were questioned and modified by social actors. In turning to the legal treatment of the conflict, the work examines the delaying strategies used in Criminal Justice to avoid decisions and, concomitantly, generate the impunity of the accused. Finally, when examining the damage reparation actions brought by the families of the fatal victims of the Carandiru invasion, the work questions the criteria created and applied by the Court of Justice of São Paulo for claims of material and moral damages and funeral expenses. Such criteria result in the non-acceptance of claims or low indemnities, despite the condemnation of the State in terms of civil liability. In short, at this point, the work asks what social values are affirmed as just in this process of judicial decision.