Who would have thought that in the short span of four years the Supreme Court would go from guardian of the democratic rule of law to its executioner.
Tuesday's session (the 15th) will go down in the court's annals as one of the worst moments in its entire history. Its entire history. And bear in mind that the competition is not easy. The STF has already validated the deportation of Olga Benário to Nazi Germany, has already shown deference in times of exception, such as during the Estado Novo, has already eroded labor rights, has already banned political interviews with the press, has already endorsed amnesty, and so on.
Even so, this week's session ranks among the most ignominious events in the STF's history. The bar for what constitutes acceptable behavior on the highest court is so low that it affects our ability to discern right from wrong, the legal from the political, the ego from the institution.
To begin with, a shouting match between justices on national television turns the STF into a dive bar. The very least one would expect is that procedural rules be agreed upon by the justices before the session begins, for the sake of the institution, so that society might see it less as an amalgamation of individual justices and more as a court.
It makes no legal sense whatsoever for André Mendonça and Alexandre de Moraes to vote on any matter — procedural or on the merits, directly or indirectly connected to themselves. To accept anything less, under dubious arguments, means normalizing the idea that a Supreme Court justice is above the law.
Paulo Gonet should not have participated in the session, but instead sent a representative if he believed the institution is greater than himself; that was not the case. Both the selectivity with which Mendonça conducted investigations under his watch à la Sergio Moro and Moraes's less-than-republican relationships have driven the STF to its lowest point in decades.
In the election there is only one side suspected of having taken money from a coup-plotting banker, and it is paradoxically that very same side that is the sole beneficiary of the chaos.
The STF has taught us that to bring it to a standstill, not even a soldier and a corporal are necessary; the egos of its justices will suffice.
