Handling deaths in prison custody after Carandiru

This article analyses how deaths in prison custody are managed by the Penitentiary Administration Secretariat of São Paulo (SAP), Brazil. It examines institutional arrangements that structure state responses to custodial deaths combining historical and empirical approaches. Based on legislative debates surrounding the creation of the SAP in the aftermath of the 1992 Carandiru Massacre, as well as on documentary analysis, freedom of information requests, and qualitative interviews, the research investigates administrative practices of death classification, internal investigations, and communication with families. The findings reveal inconsistencies in official data and fragmented information flows that limit transparency and accountability. The analysis of Preliminary Investigations shows that these procedures have produced no administrative sanctions and are frequently mobilized in court to support state defenses. The article argues that such bureaucratic routines reproduce historical patterns of denial and opacity, shaping how the state governs and renders intelligible deaths under its custody.