Abstract
Based on reflections that analyze racism as a structuring element in Brazil and on some criminological theories, we seek to analyze how racial issues operate in the criminal justice system. We followed the trail of two legal decisions that, by signaling that a white defendant “does not have the standard stereotype of a criminal” (Tribunal de Justiça de São Paulo [TJSP], 2016) and that a black defendant is “surely a member of the criminal group, because of his race” (Tribunal de Justiça do Paraná [TJPR], 2020) they explicitly pointed to the racial component as a criterion of differentiation. The analysis of this mechanism reveals a continuum of practices and equipment, as in police approaches and custody hearings, which fix the black subject in the place of suspicion and danger.
Keywords:
Racism; Justice system; Criminal law; Police approach; Custody hearing