Supreme Court Rules that Police Stops Based on Skin Color Are Illegal

04/11/2024

Unanimously, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) established, in the session of this Thursday (11), that police stops and personal searches motivated by race, sex, sexual orientation, skin color, or physical appearance are illegal. For the Full Court, a warrantless personal search must be grounded on indications that the person is carrying a prohibited weapon or objects or papers that might represent evidence of a crime.

At the end of the judgment, Justice Luís Roberto Barroso (president) highlighted the importance of the STF defining the thesis that racial profiling is unacceptable. "We are facing structural racism in Brazil that requires us to take a stand on this issue," he stated.

Habeas Corpus The decision was made during the judgment of a Habeas Corpus (HC 208240) filed by the Public Defender's Office of the State of São Paulo (DPE-SP) on behalf of a black man sentenced to two years of imprisonment for drug trafficking, for carrying 1.53 grams of cocaine. The Defense argued that the evidence would be illegal because the police stop had occurred solely because of the suspect's skin color.

Drug Trafficking Location In the specific case, by a majority of votes, the conviction was upheld. The prevailing understanding was that the search was not motivated by racial profiling, but because the suspect had an attitude indicating the offering of the product in a location known as a drug trafficking area. Justices Edson Fachin (reporting judge), Luiz Fux, and Luís Roberto Barroso were in the minority. They considered the evidence illegal, as the approach was motivated solely by the suspect's skin color.

Check out the summary of the judgment.

PR/CR//CV

Read more