For some years now, Brazilians have got used to adjusting our opinions to fit a particular political stance. The need to shape reality according to our political preferences was played out again in the widespread criticism of two recent Supreme Court rulings that annulled several trials presided over by the former judge Sergio Moro.
Polarisation has affected public understanding of these court decisions in a variety of ways. The first decision was issued by Justice Edson Fachin on 8 March and annulled the criminal convictions for corruption handed down to Brazil’s former president, Lula da Silva. The second, on 23 March, was a majority decision by three of the five justices of the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court and declared that Sergio Moro acted in a biased manner in the criminal proceedings against Lula, rendering null and void not only the criminal convictions but all the procedural actions taken by Moro.
Despite the criticism, such decisions are a breath of rationality in an environment of “legal flat-earthers”, where it has become common for people to hold opinions about court cases based on political instead of legal criteria.
