Hyperisolation, Loneliness, and Coronavirus: São Paulo Public Defender’s Office and the Right of Incarcerated Individuals to Family Life

Abstract

This article aimed to analyze the Public-interest Civil Action (ACP) promoted by the São Paulo Public Defender’s Office to guarantee people deprived of liberty in the state of São Paulo access to public telephones and virtual visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis was not restricted to considerations about legal strategies but sought to understand how the law was used and mobilized to construct public policies for people in prison. A qualitative documentary analysis of the initial request was carried out. It was found that the main mechanism for preventing the circulation of the coronavirus in São Paulo prisons was increasing the isolation of inmates. Protection, however, meant restricting further rights of prisoners and increasing their suffering, restricting access to material assistance and means of preventing torture. In the Public-interest Civil Action, it was noticed that the Public Defender’s Office sought to present itself as an institution that promotes human rights and in order to convince the Judiciary of the justice of its requests, demonstrated that other countries and states of the federation had already regulated virtual contacts between prisoners and their families. Furthermore, the action was useful in denouncing the lack of effective COVID prevention policies. Finally, it was concluded that the request, although rejected in court, was important in provoking the state government to face the problem.