Petition against Moraes' nomination to the Supreme Court gathers 100 signatures.

247 - The XI de Agosto Academic Center of the Law School at the University of São Paulo (USP) has created an online petition on the website. change.org against Michel Temer's nomination of his Minister of Justice, Alexandre de Moraes, to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by Teori Zavascki.

The goal is to gather 150 signatures. According to the statement of repudiation prepared by the students, which will be presented to the Senate, Moraes has demonstrated, throughout his political career, "disrespect for fundamental principles of the Constitution," in addition to constantly issuing "histrionic and strongly partisan statements and stances." The signatories state that they view Moraes's nomination with "unease and disbelief."

Check out the full text:

STATEMENT OF REJECTION FROM THE XI DE AGOSTO ACADEMIC CENTER REGARDING THE NOMINATION OF ALEXANDRE DE MORAES TO THE SUPREME FEDERAL COURT

It is with tremendous unease and disbelief that we received the news that the current Minister of Justice, Alexandre de Moraes, will be the name indicated by Michel Temer to replace Teori Zavascki on the Supreme Federal Court.

A few days ago, we drafted a letter addressed to the Minister in which we expressed that he was not up to the task of holding the position of Minister of Justice. The same applies, even more vehemently, to the post of Minister of the Supreme Federal Court. Throughout his career, Moraes has demonstrated disrespect for the fundamental principles of the Constitution. His constant histrionic and strongly partisan statements and stances definitively disqualify him from possessing the "unblemished reputation" required for the position.

In his doctoral thesis, presented at the Faculty of Law of the University of São Paulo in July 2000, the current Minister of Justice argued that those holding positions of trust "during the term of the incumbent President of the Republic" should be barred from being nominated to the Supreme Court to avoid "demonstrations of political gratitude." By this criterion, he himself would be prevented from being nominated by Temer. Even if there is no agreement with such a restriction on appointments, in the present case the conflict of interest is evident.

His stance on the crisis in the prison system, as we indicated earlier, also reflects poorly on him, demonstrating complete incompetence on the part of the nominee. The minister's statements made explicit his inability to act as a representative of justice in the country, even more so in relation to what is expected of a Supreme Court justice as guardian of the Constitution.

While still Minister of Justice, in an absurd gesture during a campaign event for then-Congressman Duarte Nogueira (PSDB/SP) for Mayor of Ribeirão Preto, Moraes leaked confidential information about the future of the Lava Jato Operation investigations, revealing a new phase of the Operation.

Alexandre de Moraes is only 49 years old, which gives him the possibility of serving as a Minister for 26 years. It is unthinkable that, in what is intended to be a democratic regime, someone could enjoy such power for so long, especially without the legitimacy of popular vote as is the case in the Judiciary.

In addition to vehemently repudiating the nomination of Alexandre de Moraes, we defend – as does the nominee's own doctoral thesis – the adoption of a model of fixed-term mandates for Supreme Court justices. It is unacceptable that nominations, some as controversial as this one, remain on the Supreme Court for so long.

We will also announce soon a statement against this absurd appointment.

#XIDEAUGUST
#MoraesnoSTFNAO