Epitácio Pessoa in the Brazilian Supreme Court: a counterpoint to the judicial activism of Rui Barbosa and Pedro Lessa (1911-1912)

Abstract

The article analyzes the constitutional thought of Epitácio Pessoa while serving as a minister of the Supreme Federal Court, a position he held from 1902 to 1912. Using the methodology of linguistic contextualism by John Pocock and the morphology of political ideologies by Michael Freeden, the work aims to understand to what extent his thought can be considered a counterpoint to the judicial activism advocated by Rui Barbosa and Pedro Lessa. More specifically, the article seeks to examine Epitácio's political-ideological orientation, which is close to economic libertarianism, and the relationship of this worldview with your understanding of the role of the Judiciary. To achieve this, work analyzes, besides his conception of political economy, some judicial decisions in which his votes were most discussed in the Court between 1911 and 1912. In conclusion, the research indicates that, on one hand, Rui Barbosa and Pedro Lessa defended a political role for the Supreme Court, as the last arbiter of the Republic; on the other hand, Epitácio Pessoa advocated for a restraint of the Court, in favor of resolving constitutional conflicts through the oligarphic mechanisms of the Old Republic and, ultimately, through the tools available to the president of the Republic.