[2] Direito received his law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in 1965.

[2] Direito replaced former Supreme Federal Court Justice Sepúlveda Pertence.

[2] However, he was re-admitted to the Hospital Samaritano's intensive-care unit on Saturday, August 29, 2009, and placed on a ventilator.

[2] Judge Carlos Alberto Menezes Direito died of pancreatic cancer at the Hospital Samaritana in Rio de Janeiro on September 1, 2009, at the age of 66.

The Brazilian flags around the country stayed at half mast for three days following his death.