Jon Galante finds himself in a heap of hot water, and rightly so.

The former Butler County jury commissioner faces misdemeanor charges of interfering with juror selection. In essence, Galante is accused of undermining the jury selection system he had been sworn — and paid — to protect from abuse.

Clearly, this is a case of civil disobedience. Galante and fellow jury commissioner Clinton Bonetti were fighting for more than a part-time job. They were defending a jury selection system they believed in against the threat of elimination.

According to the state attorney general’s office, which filed the charges, Galante admitted he sent jury candidate questionnaires to three county officials — solicitor Mike English and commissioners Bill McCarrier and Dale Pinkerton — along with Connoquenessing Township resident Mark Krenitsky, an outspoken supporter of the abolishment of jury commissioners, on Sept. 30. McCarrier and Krenitsky later were called for jury selection. Both were excused.

McCarrier and Pinkerton had voted in May to cut the jury commissioner posts, citing cost savings, after English advised them the action was legal. The salaries and benefits of the two posts were budgeted at roughly $71,000 for 2013.

An affidavit filed with the charges states Galante told state investigators he took action to prove a point. According to the affidavit, “He stated that he ‘wanted to show them that it could be done.’ Jon Galante informed these agents that he was ‘trying to show them anybody could screw with the system.’”

Galante and Bonetti last year argued against the elimination of their jobs, saying the potential existed for tainting of jury pools without independent elected officials to oversee the process. Bonetti was not charged with any crime.

The irony — and Galante must have realized this all along — is that Galante would incriminate himself through his demonstration.

That’s a textbook definition of civil disobedience — breaking the law to emphasize an injustice. But the righteousness of his intent does not render the lawbreaker immune to punishment.