Lula Lets Deadline Lapse as Senate Chief Moves to Enact Jan. 8 Sentencing Law

Overview

• After Lula missed the 48-hour window on Wednesday, May 6, Senate President Davi Alcolumbre gained another 48 hours to promulgate the bill that changes how sentences are calculated for Jan. 8 cases.
• Congress, which overturned Lula's veto on Thursday, April 30, approved the measure by 318–144 in the Chamber of Deputies and 49–24 in the Senate.
• The law rewrites sentencing rules by stopping the full stacking of related counts, applying the highest penalty with a proportional increase, reducing terms for non-leaders, and shortening the wait to seek a lighter prison regime, which could aid Jair Bolsonaro and hundreds of convicted defendants.
• PT leaders plan to ask the Supreme Court to invalidate the vote and review the law's constitutionality, while Chamber President Hugo Motta says the parliamentary decision should be respected.
• Immediate relief remains on hold as Justice Alexandre de Moraes rejected an early bid by Débora Rodrigues for a sentence cut because the law was not yet in force, and defense teams say they will refile once it is promulgated.