If you think the Judicial in the US is going crazy, you should see what happens in Brazil
By Laiz Rodrigues
The Lipstick That Broke the Scales of Justice
In Brazil, a hairdresser named Débora Rodrigues dos Santos scribbled “Perdeu, mané” (“You lost, dude”) on a statue with lipstick. For this, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes wants her locked away for 14 years. Yes, 14 years—for an act of vandalism that, in a sane world, might earn a fine or a weekend in jail. This isn’t justice; it’s a sledgehammer dressed up as law, and it’s a warning to every Brazilian who dares to speak out: the state is watching, and it doesn’t forgive.
The facts are stark. On January 8, 2023, amid chaotic protests after a heated messy election, Débora defaced the “A Justiça” statue outside Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF). She was arrested, and now, over two years later—on March 21, 2025—Moraes voted to convict her of attempted coup, abolishing democracy, and associating with armed groups. The sentence is pending review by the STF’s First Chamber, due by March 28, 2025. Meanwhile, she’s been in preventive detention since March 2023, a mother of two young children torn from her family over a tube of lipstick.
Let’s be clear: vandalism is wrong. No conservative worth their salt defends breaking the law or disrespecting public property. But punishment should fit the crime. Fourteen years? That’s what you’d expect for armed robbery or worse, not for scrawling a taunt on stone. In the United States, misdemeanor vandalism might get you a slap on the wrist—maybe a year if it’s egregious. Brazil’s own legal tradition doesn’t justify this either; it reeks of a judiciary flexing its muscle to crush a fly.
Moraes, the architect of this outrage, claims Débora was part of a mob assault on democracy that day, when rioters stormed government buildings in Brasília. The STF ties her lipstick to a grand conspiracy—an attempted coup. But where’s the proof? Did she wield a weapon? Did she breach the halls of power? No. She wrote a snarky message and went home. To leap from that to “abolishing democracy” is the kind of mental gymnastics that would make a dictator blush. It’s collective guilt, not justice—punishing one woman for the sins of a crowd.
This isn’t just about Débora. It’s about a justice system that’s lost its moorings. Moraes has made a habit of this—banning platforms, jailing critics, and wielding “social dangerousness” like a cudgel to keep Débora behind bars despite Brazilian laws that could let her serve time at home with her kids. He’s not just a judge; he’s a one-man tribunal, blurring the lines between law and tyranny. Conservatives know the state exists to protect liberty, not to wield unchecked power. When a justice can lock you up for years over a symbolic act, the rule of law becomes a hollow phrase.
Think about Débora’s kids—ages 6 and 11—growing up without their mom because of this. The family unit, a bedrock of any decent society, gets trampled here. Moraes denied her house arrest, calling her a threat. A threat? She’s a hairdresser, not a terrorist. This isn’t protecting society; it’s punishing it, breaking apart a home to prove a point.
The other side will cry, “But January 8 was an attack on democracy!” Sure, the riots were ugly—lawbreakers should face consequences. But pinning a coup on every protester, even one armed only with lipstick, dilutes the term to meaninglessness. If everything’s a coup, nothing is. And if the state can stretch charges this far, what stops it from coming for anyone—a farmer, a teacher, you—over a harsh word or a raised fist?
This case is a litmus test. Do we want a Brazil where justice is proportionate, where the law serves the people, not the powerful? Or one where a single judge can turn a petty act into a life sentence to silence dissent? Débora’s no saint, but 14 years for lipstick isn’t righteousness—it’s revenge. Conservatives—and anyone who values freedom—should see this for what it is: a dangerous precedent that threatens us all.
Laiz Rodrigues
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