O direito à educação nas prisões no Estado de São Paulo: dados sobre a oferta educacional e a remição da pena pelo estudo (The right to education in the State of São Paulo prisons: data on the educational offer and the remission of the sentence by the study)

This publication presents information and analysis based on a survey carried out at the Penitentiary of Santana (a neighborhood in São Paulo) in March 2014 and data provided by the Court of Justice of São Paulo on the application of Law 12,433 / 2011, which amended the Criminal Execution Law (Law 7.210 / 1984) establishing the reduction of the sentence for the people who study.

October 11, 2014

Support: Public Defender’s Office of the State of São Paulo / Conectas Human Rights / Geledés – Instituto da Mulher Negra (Geledés – Black Women's Institute) / Práxis de Direitos Humanos (Human Rights Praxis) / Instituto Terra, Trabalho e Cidadania (ITTC) (Land, Labor and Citzenship Institute)/ Prison Pastoral

In July 2013, in an unprecedented decision, the First Public Treasury Court of São Paulo requested information on the offer of Youth and Adult Education (EJA) at the Sant’Ana Feminine Penitentiary (North Region of São Paulo’s capital), after analyzing the Civil Public Lawsuit (ACP) filed by Conectas Human Rights, Geledés – Instituto da Mulher Negra, Instituto Práxis de Direitos Humanos, Instituto Terra Trabalho e Cidadania (ITTC) and Prison Pastoral, institutions that comprise the Grupo de Trabalho em Defesa do Direito à Educação nas Prisões (Working Group in Defense of the Right to Education in Prisons).

The ACP was based on research carried out by the same institutions, which showed a conflict of time between the functioning of the school and the workshops at the unit, what prevented a large number of women from attending school.

The Justice Department did not accept the justifications of the Government of the State of São Paulo and determined that the proponents of the ACP update the information on the demand for education in that unit, what was done on March 24, 25 and 26, 2014, through interviews with 133 prisoners – about 5% of the total population of that unit.

This bulletin presents a summary of the information collected and forwarded to the Judiciary and also reveals the reduced impact of the application of Law No. 12,433 / 2011, which amended the Criminal Enforcement Law (LEP – Law 7.210 / 1984), establishing a reduction of sentence for those who study at the rate of 1 day for every 12 hours of study. The LEP already determined that for every 3 days of work, 1 day of the sentence would be decreased.