The new law that prohibits racial quotas in state universities in Santa Catarina is already being challenged in court. A popular action calling for the suspension of the rule was filed by federal deputy Ana Paula Lima (PT-SC) and the president of the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae), Décio Lima.
In the action filed at the Public Finance Court of Florianópolis, on Thursday (22), they argue that the state does not have the legal competence to prohibit policies that have already been authorized by federal laws and considered constitutional by the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Ana Paula and Décio Lima ask for the immediate suspension of the law and, on the merits, the declaration of nullity, on the grounds that the measure is unconstitutional.
They still consider the measure a setback in the fight against inequalities in access to higher education.
President of Sebrae, Décio Lima, filed a lawsuit with the Florianópolis Public Finance Court – Photo: Rafa Neddermeyer/Agência Brasil
“Quotas are not privileges. They are instruments of social justice, created to confront historical inequalities and structural racism that still limit the access of thousands of young people to university. Ending these policies is denying equal opportunities and compromising the future”, wrote Ana Paula, in a post on social media.
For Décio Lima, the unconstitutionality of the state law is clear, as there is a federal regulation that establishes quotas and needs to be complied with throughout the territory.
“Brazil needs to interrupt this historical cycle of thinking that we have two Brazils, one white and one black,” he declared in a video also shown on social media.
The popular action also points out that the law could generate financial losses for the state itself, by imposing fines on public institutions and making it difficult for Santa Catarina universities to access federal resources linked to inclusion and student assistance programs.
This Friday (23), judge Luciana Pelisser Gottardi Trentini gave 72 hours for the state government to comment on the issue.
In addition to being president of Sebrae, Décio Lima is a politician from Santa Catarina, he was a federal deputy for the state and mayor of Blumenau more than once. He is married to federal deputy Ana Paula Lima.
Understand
The Legislative Assembly of the State of Santa Catarina (Alesc) approved the bill in December 2025which was sanctioned by the state governor, Jorginho Mello, in the form of the Law No. 19,722/2026and published in Official Gazette of the state this Friday.
According to the law, state public universities and other higher education institutions that receive resources from the state government are prohibited from adopting vacancy reservation policies or any form of quota or affirmative action, such as supplementary vacancies and similar measures. The ban applies to the entry of students and employees into the workforce, including teachers.
Governor of Santa Catarina, Jorginho Mello, sanctioned the law that prohibits racial quotas in universities in the state – Photo: Rafa Neddermeyer/Agência Brasil
The law allows exceptions, such as the reservation of places based exclusively on economic criteria, for people with disabilities and students coming from the state public network.
The punishments provided for those who fail to comply with the new legislation are a fine of R$100,000 per notice and a cut in public funds.
One of the institutions affected by the text is the State University of Santa Catarina (Udesc), which has around 14 thousand students distributed across more than 60 undergraduate courses and more than 50 master’s and doctorate degrees. The ban on quotas does not apply to federal institutions, such as the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC).
The author of the project, deputy Alex Brasil (PL), states that the adoption of quotas based on criteria other than strictly economic or student origin in public schools, “raises legal controversies and may conflict with the principles of equality and impersonality, by creating distinctions that do not necessarily reflect situations of disadvantage”.
Repercussion
The Quota Law has been in force at the federal level since 2012 (Law No. 12,711/2012) and provides 50% of places at universities and federal institutes for students who completed high school in public schools, including criteria of income, race (black, mixed race, indigenous and quilombolas) and people with disabilities.
In some states, such as Rio de Janeiro, there are specific laws for state universities.
On trial in 2012, the STF ruled on constitutionality of the quota policy for black and indigenous people in universities. The ministers judged the case of the University of Brasília (UnB), which was the first federal institution to implement affirmative action policies for black and indigenous students.
“The rule aims to overcome historical social distortions, based on the right to material equality and the principle of proportionality”, defines the result of the trial.
The leader of the Unified Black Movement in Santa Catarina, Vanda Pinedo, recalled that, before the quota policy, the number of black students at the university was almost insignificant.
“This absence was not just due to a lack of qualifications, as they [contrários às cotas] They often say, due to a lack of preparation among black youth, this is due to the issue of access. And by suspending the quota policy, we return to this situation of no longer having an equalization of the equity policy”, he said, in an interview with the newspaper Reporter Brazilfrom the TV Brasil.
For constitutional law professor at the Fluminense Federal University Gustavo Sampaio, the topic is still controversial. According to him, federalist jurists argue that the fact that the STF has declared constitutionality does not prevent states from prohibiting the possibility of quotas.
On the other hand, jurists more linked to the basis of fundamental rights understand that, since the Supreme Court established this favorable understanding of quotas, any action to the contrary violates the principle of prohibition of regression.
“Because jurisprudence would have already evolved towards guaranteeing accessibility to racial quotas, therefore creating historical equity in the face of inequalities historically confirmed in Brazil’s evolutionary path since the colony”, explained Sampaio, also in an interview with TV Brasil.
1st Meeting of Shareholders Graduates of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj) – Photo: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil
According to him, any law in this regard must reach the STF and ministers will have to decide whether the states are bound by federal legislation or whether there is institutional autonomy to deny it.
In a statement, the Ministry of Racial Equality expressed indignation with the sanction of the law that ends the quota policy in state universities in Santa Catarina. For the ministry, the measure is unconstitutional and, in this sense, it announced that it will call the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) to analyze the appropriate measures.
“Racial quotas and affirmative actions are the biggest reparatory policy in Brazil, actions that in recent decades have transformed the lives of thousands of families, data proven in scientific research. Attempts to set back the rights achieved will be vehemently opposed by the ministry, whose primary mission is to ensure democracy and the dignity of the black people of Brazil”, states the ministry’s note.
