Supreme Court strikes down laws requiring cell phone blocking in prisons.
By eight votes to three, the Supreme Federal Court decided this Wednesday (3) to overturn the validity of state laws in Bahia, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná and Santa Catarina that require cell phone operators to install signal blocking equipment in prison establishments; in the understanding of the STF, only the Union can legislate on telecommunications and, therefore, the laws in force in the states are unconstitutional; The ministers highlighted that telephone companies cannot bear the burden of spending more on blockers due to state laws.
247- By eight votes to three, the Supreme Federal Court decided this Wednesday (3) to overturn the validity of state laws in Bahia, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná and Santa Catarina that require mobile phone operators to install signal blocking equipment in prison establishments. For the STF, only the Union can legislate on telecommunications and, therefore, the laws in force in the states are unconstitutional. The ministers highlighted that telephone companies cannot bear the burden of spending more on blockers due to state laws.
The Supreme Court analyzed five lawsuits filed by the National Association of Cellular Operators (Acel) against the laws of the four states and ruled in favor of the lawsuits, declaring the laws unconstitutional. According to the association, the blocking prevented service for consumers living near prisons, since it would technically not be possible to block service only within the penal institution.
Four justices reported on the five cases: Marco Aurélio Mello, Gilmar Mendes, Dias Toffoli, and Luiz Edson Fachin. Of them, only Fachin considered the state laws to be valid.
According to the president of the Supreme Court, Ricardo Lewandowski, Brazil has 1.424 prison facilities in the country. He believes it is unacceptable to force operators to create the blockages and incur the costs. "Imposing the maintenance of the blockages on the operators, I believe, will clearly create an imbalance in the economic and financial equation of the concession contracts," he said.
Minister Gilmar Mendes, who voted against the state laws, said he spoke with the Minister of Justice, Alexandre de Moraes, and heard from him that the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) is discussing a national solution to block cell phone signals in prisons. "We cannot act without considering the consequences this has on the system as a whole. It needs to be addressed nationally, globally. This affects the responsibilities of companies towards the system," he pointed out.