Brazilian Prison Program Cuts Sentences by Reading Books

Brazil operates one of the world’s most comprehensive programs that allows prisoners to reduce their sentences by reading books. Prisoners can cut up to 48 days a year from their time by participating in reading workshops and writing book reviews.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – A 33-year-old Brazilian woman named Emily de Souza jumped at the chance to take part in a rare program that would cut four days off her prison sentence just by reading a book, allowing her to resume her favorite pastime.

Along with thousands of other prisoners across the country – including former President Jair Bolsonaro – he has signed up to a sentence reduction project that encourages people incarcerated to get involved in the books in order to reduce 48 days each year from their prison terms.

The prospect of being reunited soon with her 9-year-old autistic child, who is currently being cared for by her mother and aunt, fueled her desire to join the program.

De Souza spoke from the Djanira Dolores de Oliveira Women’s Prison in Rio de Janeiro, which houses about 820 female prisoners.

He described reading as “a kind of escape, to get out of this environment a little, to think about other things: other stories, other people, not just me.”

De Souza, like many of his fellow prisoners, was convicted of drug trafficking charges. He was sentenced to five years for transporting cannabis-infused Brazilian chocolate called “brigadeiro”. After arriving last November, he expects to make progress in Brazil’s open prison system in August, which will allow day release for work.

Brazil, which is home to one of Latin America’s highest per capita incarceration rates, is distinguished by having one of the world’s most systematic and comprehensive programs of sentence reduction. The growing effort, originally planned in 2012 and scheduled to be nationwide by 2021, gained new attention this year when the Supreme Court allowed Bolsonaro — who is currently serving 27 years on charges of attempted coup — to take part.

Andréia Oliveira, who oversees women’s prisons and LGBTIQ+ programs in Rio’s regional facilities, stressed that providing reading and education opportunities benefits ex-prisoners and society in general. “When we encourage education, work of pride, knowledge, we return to society a person who can connect, respect the rules,” he explained.

Professor of Literature Paulo Roberto Tonani has run prison workshops since 2022, enabling Rio prisoners to access this program.

The process begins with participants choosing or receiving a book during an introductory session. In the following meetings, they discuss their reading material and finally create a written test or pictures that show their understanding.

Prisoners have participated in works including “Captain of the Sands” by the famous Brazilian writer, Jorge Amado, “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker.

According to Tonani, the participants particularly welcome the illustrated story “Father Francisco” by Marina Miyazaki Araujo, which describes a father in prison from the perspective of his child. Most prisoners in Brazil come from poor families and do not have a primary education.

During the March workshop at the Djanira Dolores de Oliveira center, several participants were studying “Women’s Unstoppable Tears” by the Brazilian writer Conceição Evaristo – including Celina Maria de Conceição, a 50-year-old woman from the Pernambuco region.

De Conceição, who participated in previous workshops and enrolled again, credited the program with strengthening her appreciation for reading.

“It helps us a lot because we’re locked in and it’s stressful, very noisy,” he noted. We can go to another place, talk to other people and talk about good things, like the book we are studying.”

However, she rejected Evaristo’s book, which explores the effects of violence on the experiences of Black women, after finding it emotionally disturbing.

“It was not a good thing for me, because it raises our emotions, and we are in a place where the environment is really difficult,” he said.

Brazil’s prisons are notorious for overcrowding and brutal conditions. In 2023, the Supreme Court acknowledged widespread human rights violations within the prison system and ordered the government to take action to address these problems. The “Just Punishment” project, launched in 2025, aims to expand education and employment opportunities among other projects.

Despite the improvement, the achievement of sentence reduction in reading varies greatly throughout Brazil, according to Rodrigo Dias, who leads educational, cultural and sports projects for the National Secretariat of Penal Code.

While the northeastern state of Alagoas provides some prisoners with a range of 300 articles, other traditional countries maintain heavy administrative barriers that prevent access, Dias noted.

A 2023 government survey revealed that nearly 30% of Brazilian prisons do not have libraries or proper reading areas. However, Dias highlighted the literary data that shows a doubling of reading-based pardons from 2021.

Like de Conceição, most participants want to continue once they start. “This book gives them the opportunity to dream, and to ‘talk’ to other people often – not those who are locked up or working in an institution, but also people who appear in the stories,” said Dias.

Although Elionaldo Fernandes Julião, co-author of the “Explanation of Sentences by Reading in Brazil: The Right to Education in Competition” and professor Fluminense Federal University, recognizes the importance of access to prison textbooks, he argues that the reduction of sentence based on reading often takes the place of improving access to education, which requires a lot of resources.

Julião also noted that the availability of programs and books often depends on local initiatives. “Unfortunately, these are very easy to remove or close as quickly as possible,” he warned.

During a recent workshop, de Souza read aloud poems by the legendary Argentine writer Liliana Cabrera. Another verse says the narrator is “And something more / than the black letters / of the court case.”

De Souza found deep meaning in these words.

“There is someone who knew how to explain in beautiful words (…) that I am a person who goes beyond the court case, much more than the mistake I made, that I am a person with my story,” he thought.