You've sort of answered your own question there wilf. The court did care about what people think , and the wider consequences to communities . That's why they got so much jail time.
I don't think that anyone on this thread has said that they shouldn't have the right to demonstrate , only that they shouldn't have the right to cause problems for others .
I would support anyone's right to protest , even the lacs etc . But I certainly don't think that they have any right to trespass on private land , assault people , disrupt other perfectly legal activities , that good people have worke