Minister of Justice Cármen Lúcia, or the Moving Exhibition of False Virtue

Cármen Lúcia in February, 2026 -- Supremo Tribunal Federal STF, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons

By Urariano Mota

At the Federal Supreme Court session on September 15, during the trial to discuss the report highlighting the relationship between former banker Daniel Vorcaro and Minister of Justice Alexandre de Moraes, Justice Cármen Lúcia stated the following in her vote:

“I find myself, as perhaps many of my colleagues do, in a state of deep distress and sadness. Today, one of my colleagues asked me if I was upset about something. ‘No,’ I said, ‘I am sad not only because of the issue that brings us here—that decision—but because this Federal Supreme Court is the guardian of the Constitution, has caused civic unease among all Brazilian citizens in recent days,” said the minister. She continued: “I’m apologizing to the Chief Justice, to all my colleagues, and to the Brazilian people, because I really wanted to have done better and to have helped calm things down, but I wasn’t able to.”

And she voted in favor of the coup against Brazil, attempted by the Bolsonaro supporter Mendonça! It was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

The distinguished journalist Luis Nassif published an article about her, from which I’ve excerpted a few passages:

(Carmen Lúcia had) “the support of José Dirceu for her nomination to the Supreme Court in 2006, as well as the backing of two highly respected sponsors: Sepúlveda Pertence and Itamar Franco. Once she was appointed, the protests of outrage have subsided. Carmen Lúcia voted to convict José Dirceu of active corruption and money laundering.

Later, she also joined the majority that authorized the enforcement of sentences following convictions in the appellate court. This ruling paved the way for the imprisonment of former allies and, above all, of then-former President Lula, whose exclusion from the 2018 election profoundly altered the country’s political course....

There is the Cármen Lúcia of public statements—austere, indignant, sensitive to rights, and seemingly oblivious to power plays. And there is the justice of the court records, of silences, of shifts in position, and of cases that move forward or remain stalled depending on the interests at stake.”

I look to the literature for behaviors and practices that resemble the person who became the character Cármen Lúcia. We can see a similar wicked act in Lady Macbeth. Upon hearing the news of the murder of her king—which she herself had planned—here is what the “touched” Lady Macbeth overcome with emotion, screams:

-- Help me hence, ho!

What a magnificent character, we might say. But Shakespeare couldn’t express feigned emotion as well as the minister did this week with her moving words:

“I find myself in a state of deep distress and sadness. ‘I am sad not only because of the issue that brings us here—that decision—but because this Federal Supreme Court is the guardian of the Constitution, has caused civic unease among all Brazilian citizens in recent days. I’m apologizing to the Chief Justice, to all my colleagues, and to the Brazilian people, because I really wanted to have done better and to have helped calm things down, but I wasn’t able to.”

And she completed the coup against democracy in the Federal Supreme Court. But it was all very heartfelt, with a line ready for TV Globo’s “Jornal Nacional”, broadcast across Brazil. Lady Macbeth never had a national network newscast.

If we seek to better characterize the minister’s vote, we are reminded of François de La Rochefoucauld’s definition: “Hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue.” The minister’s words were all the more poignant at a time when the Brazilian nation is reeling from the crimes committed by Trump against Brazilian Sovereignty, and yet, at the same time, she appeared so dignified. She became the embodiment of La Rochefoucauld’s definition.

And we don’t need to turn to the reflections of a 17th-century author. Right here among us, closer to the Brazilian spirit, we have our greatest writer, who wrote the following, as recorded in José Carlos Ruy’s “Machado de Assis Dictionary”:

"To say that Leonardo fell in love with Cecília would be to distort history, and I value, above all else, the truth of facts and feelings; but that is precisely why I must say that Cecília did make some impression on Leonardo. What made a deep impression on our unfortunate hero’s heart and immediately won over all his affections was the substantial dowry the young woman brought with her. (The Oracle, 1866)”.

“Nóbrega—He was a collector of alms for the Church. He met Natividade and Perpétua on São José Street when they went to consult Bárbara. He kept the 2,000-reais note that Natividade gave as alms. He invested the money and multiplied it. A few months later, he quit his job as an alms collector and changed careers. He left the city; when he returned, he had several pairs of contos de réis, a fortune that doubled, tripled, and quadrupled. He made money through speculation, through ‘encilhamento.’ He was a different man; his features were not the same, but rather those that time had shaped and refined. (Esau and Jacob, 1904)....”.

Fortunately for the Minister, the Machado de Assis Dictionary has not yet been published.

Urariano Mota is a Brazilian writer and journalist, born in Recife on September 29, 1950. He is the author of novels about the horrors of the Brazilian dictatorship, such as “Soledad no Recife” and “Never-Ending Youth”