CONTROLE E SELETIVIDADE PENAL NO BRASIL: REFLEXÕES SOBRE A CONTRAVENÇÃO PENAL DA VADIAGEM EM JULGADOS DO STF

Abstract

The article proposes a critical analysis of how idleness has been transformed into a normative criminalizing principle within the Brazilian legal system, with particular emphasis on the misdemeanor of vagrancy as defined in article 59 of decreto-lei nº 3.688/1941. Starting from the account of Luiz Alberto Mendes in his work Memórias de um Sobrevivente, in which the author describes his experience of being criminalized as a vagrant, this study suggests that the Brazilian State uses penal legislation to exert social control over marginalized individuals, reinforcing the hierarchical structures of the capitalist system. The main hypothesis is that the State has normalized the criminalization of idleness, such as vagrancy, to maintain a portion of the workforce in a state of availability, while another portion remains employed, generating surplus value. This control, based on economic criteria, aims to preserve the exploitation of capital and maintain social hierarchies. The study has three specific objectives. The first is to contextualize the concept of the Bourgeois State and its relationship with the morality of labor and the criminalization of idleness. The second is to describe how the Brazilian legal system used the misdemeanor of vagrancy to persecute marginalized groups, with an emphasis on penal selectivity. The third is to examine decisions of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) regarding the criminalization of vagrancy, in order to understand how the legislation has been applied over time. The research follows the hypothetical-deductive method, using bibliographic and documentary sources for qualitative analysis. The study seeks to demonstrate how criminal law has been employed as a tool of social control, perpetuating inequalities and reinforcing the logic of capitalism in Brazil.