STF Registers 3–0 Lead to Strike Down Santa Catarina Ban on Racial Quotas

Overview

• The Supreme Court’s virtual session, which opened Friday, now shows Gilmar Mendes, Flávio Dino and Alexandre de Moraes voting to invalidate the Santa Catarina law in full.
• Law 19.722/2026 bars race‑based affirmative action in state universities and in private or community colleges that receive state funds, and it threatens violators with annulled selection notices, R$100,000 fines per notice and cuts to public transfers.
• In their opinions, the justices say the ban clashes with settled STF rulings that uphold racial quotas and with Brazil’s anti‑racism treaty obligations, and they fault the state assembly for rushing the bill without hearings or input from affected universities.
• The statute’s effects have been on hold since a January 27 injunction by the Santa Catarina appellate court, and the STF’s virtual vote remains open through April 17 as other ministers file their positions.
• The case was brought by PSOL with UNE and Educafro, the national bar association and the industry workers’ confederation, and it unfolds as PL lawmakers push copycat measures in other states and cities that legal analysts say are likely to face similar court defeats.