The Supreme Federal Court ruled that a racial slur is equivalent to the crime of racism. Therefore, the offense is imprescriptible and must be punished at any time, regardless of the period of the episode.
The ruling was 8-1. Justices Edson Fachin, Luís Roberto Barroso, Alexandre de Moraes, Rosa Weber, Carmen Lúcia, Dias Toffoli, Ricardo Lewandowski and Luiz Fux voted in this direction.
Justice Kassio Nunes Marques disagreed and said that the National Congress should make this type of decision.
The trial of the matter began in November last year but had been interrupted by a request for more time by Moraes.
A majority of the court followed the vote of the rapporteur, Edson Fachin, who voted to reject the habeas corpus presented by the defense of a woman who was convicted of injury qualified by prejudice.
The justices analyzed the situation of an elderly woman from Brasília who was convicted in 2013 for having offended a gas station attendant. "Disgusting, ignorant, and sassy nigger girl," she said at the time.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon