It seems to me that the main purpose of laws and punishment for violation of laws is to make the "breaking of the law" such that it is more desirous to "not break the law". E.g. the bulk of a society thinks it is dangerous to residents for a car to go faster than 35 MPH in their neighborhood so they pass a law to fine anyone caught doing it $100. This would stop some people from speeding but very wealthy people might think that paying such a small amount is worth the time they save.
We could then go further and make the law so that on a third offense the car was confiscated and a driver's license was revoked.
There is always a battle between those who either think they can "get away with it" or that if caught, the penalty is insignificant and those who are seeking "protection of the law". There are many things that we, as individuals, are "restricted" from doing that governments do regularly, e.g. stealing, killing & destroying property - aka war, imprisoning to name a few. Even there there is a society of nations that make & try to enforce laws for the "common good".
Our "individual good" is often subsumed by this "common good" to the point where we feel deprived of our "rights" and/or punished improperly. In those cases, we attempt to change the laws more in our favor. In a democracy, this sometimes works. In a dictatorship it is more rare but regardless it is attempted in all societies. A "criminal" is more often doing this by "taking the law into his own hands" and that may even be a definition of a criminal.
So continue the "good fight" in your own individual ways.
