The confirmation hearings for Supreme Court justices Kassio Nunes Marques and André Mendonça revealed contrasting approaches by senators, from skipping questions to pressing nominees on their records and views, according to a report based on transcripts from the Senate Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ).
Nunes Marques invoked the Bible during his October 2020 hearing, quoting the prophet Isaiah: “I trust and fear nothing.” A year later, during Mendonça’s hearing, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro praised the nominee’s religious principles and said he was loyal to “Judeo-Christian principles.” Flávio and Senator Carlos Portinho both declined to question Mendonça.
Senate President Davi Alcolumbre said the nearly five-month wait to schedule Mendonça’s hearing had given the nominee time to understand how each senator thought about Brazil’s future. Senator Alvaro Dias, who also gave up his questions, said he hoped it would be the last nomination with a “political character.”
Several senators challenged Mendonça on matters including same-sex marriage, anti-LGBTQIA+ violence and his actions as justice minister. Asked whether he would support civil marriage for same-sex couples, Mendonça said he would respect and defend the constitutional right. Senator Fabiano Contarato pointed to Mendonça’s earlier position in a Supreme Court case concerning homophobia. Mendonça said violence against LGBTQIA+ people was unacceptable and supported the court’s decision to treat such intolerance as a crime equivalent to racism.
Mendonça also defended his department’s handling of investigations involving critics of the Bolsonaro government. Responding to questions about a report on public servants in anti-fascist groups and the use of the National Security Law, he said the Supreme Court had found that the relevant actions began before his tenure. He denied intending to persecute or intimidate government opponents and said failing to ask the Federal Police to investigate would have constituted misconduct.
On the role of religion in public life, Mendonça said that, although he was an evangelical pastor, he saw no place for religious expression in the Supreme Court. Senator Eliziane Gama, the hearing’s rapporteur, said the nomination had prompted an unusually extensive debate about the secular state. She also concluded that documents submitted to the committee showed Mendonça had served the public administration with dedication and diligence.
The hearings also drew scrutiny of Nunes Marques’s qualifications and the circumstances of his nomination. Senator Alessandro Vieira called the appointment an example of a system of intersecting interests and said Nunes Marques had not addressed an allegation of possible plagiarism in his master’s thesis. Asked whether Flávio Bolsonaro and lawyer Frederick Wassef had helped bring his name to President Jair Bolsonaro, Nunes Marques said the president may have spoken with people in the judiciary but that, as far as he knew, the decision was Bolsonaro’s own.
The account also places the hearings against more recent political disputes, including scrutiny of contracts involving former banker Daniel Vorcaro and the law firm of Justice Alexandre de Moraes’s family. It says Mendonça and Nunes Marques have also faced criticism over separate matters, but provides no further detail about those allegations.
Sources: Folha Poder.