Right guaranteed

In historic ruling, court orders São Paulo government to provide evening classes to prisoners

From 2018, the São Paulo state government will be required to provide evening classes to nearly 2,000 prisoners at the Santana Women’s Penitentiary, located in the north of the city of São Paulo. Non-compliance will result in daily fines that can range from R$500 to a maximum of R$500,000, starting on January 2nd. The ruling is still subject to appeal.”

The unanimous decision by judges on the 10th Public Law Chamber of the São Paulo State Court was given this Monday, November 7, in response to a public civil action filed by the NGO Ação Educativa, the São Paulo Public Defender’s Office, Pastoral Carcerária (the Catholic Church’s prisoner outreach service), ITTC (Land, Employment and Citizenship Institute), the Práxis Human Rights Institute and Conectas in April 2012.

Although the facility already offers education in the morning and afternoon, the prisoners and civil society organizations have long been calling for classes to be held in the evening, since many of the prisoners work during the day.

According to a survey conducted in 2014 by the organizations the filed the case, only 12% of prisoners from the Santana penitentiary were studying at the time, while 87% said they wanted to attend classes. According to the survey, 82% of these women worked, and nearly all of them (94%) worked full time.

“Access to education is a basic right that should be guaranteed by the State to all citizens, regardless of whether they are incarcerated. It is also essential for the social reintegration of prisoners, it helps reduce recidivism and, consequently, prevent crime both inside and outside prisons. Therefore, it makes no sense to oppose it,” explained Vivian Calderoni, a lawyer at Conectas.

The São Paulo government has claimed that the proposal is unfeasible due to the “shortage of staff” in the prison in the evening, raising the risk of escapes. However, as far as the judges and the State Public Prosecutor’s Office are concerned, this justification does not hold water.

“The state of São Paulo, by refusing to offer evening classes to prisoners at the Santana penitentiary, is violating constitutional and legal provisions, and the Judiciary cannot stand idly by as the public authorities disregard the fundamental rights of prisoners,” said Deborah Pierri, a prosecutor from the São Paulo State Public Prosecutor’s Office, in her legal opinion. “The lack of security resulting from a shortage of staff in the evening cannot be used as an excuse to deny a fundamental right,” she concluded.

Education in São Paulo prisons

The ruling is being touted as a historic milestone by human rights organizations, since it sets an important precedent in the struggle for access to education in prisons. According to the most recent data from Infopen, only 13% of prisoners in Brazil are involved in educational activities. In the state of São Paulo, the number is even lower: 8%.

The prison population in São Paulo (220,000 detainees) represents 35% of the total number of prisoners in Brazil. Of these, 86.23% (189,000) never completed high school, just 7% (15,265) have access to classes and 1% (2,423) participate in some complementary educational activity, such as reading and video library programs.