That's not how civil disobedience usually works- there's generally some kind of punishment, and the person taking part in the disobedience takes on some risk. Here, though, the punishment was so utterly, utterly disgustingly disproportionate, that it boggles the mind. It wasn't "6 months in jail"- a bad, bad sentence, but not the end of one's life. It was years and years.

In a just system, the system will go out of its way to bend, and all the individuals in the chain, from the prosecutor to the judge to the jury, will do the legal minimum- and then push for change. In the best system, the citizens will take part in jury nullification, and save the defendant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification_in_the_Unite...