Brazil’s Attorney General Urges STF to Freeze Santa Catarina Law Banning Racial Quotas

Overview

• Prosecutor‑General Paulo Gonet asked Minister Gilmar Mendes to suspend Lei 19.722/2026 immediately, citing STF precedents validating racial quotas and warning of irreversible effects on ongoing selection processes.
• The TJ‑SC has already halted the law by injunction after a PSOL action, while at least four direct suits challenge the measure at the Supreme Court and Gilmar Mendes demanded 48‑hour explanations from the state and legislature.
• The Santa Catarina government and Alesc defended the statute at the STF, arguing it does not end affirmative action but replaces race‑based reservations with objective socioeconomic, disability and public‑school criteria.
• The law would impact Udesc, Acafe institutions and private colleges funded by the state, and it sets penalties for noncompliance that include annulment of exams and selection notices, R$100,000 fines per edital and suspension of transfers.
• Jurists and the OAB call the measure unconstitutional on grounds including university autonomy and the duty to fight inequality, and IBGE census data undercut the state’s claim that Santa Catarina has the nation’s highest share of white residents.