> I thought of this as well. Had he been put in prison while in Starfleet
> I would have considered the matter routine. But he was put in prison
> by the government. I suppose that it could be considered a courtesy in
> the same way our government used to grant people parole if they joined
> the military,
From memory, Starfleet brought ex-Maquis Tom paris in to help hunt down
the other Maquis since he'd know their ways, potential hiding places,
etc. In exchange he'd get his freedom / reduced sentence. It was only
because he got stuck with Voyager in the Delta Quadrant that he
(eventually) rejoined Stafleet.
> I think that it is another incident which makes more and more a mockery
> of the Starfleet's claim that Starfleet is not a military organization.
> It is probably more correct to say that it is not a militaristic or
> warlike organization. But it does not seem to differ from a military
> organization in any visible fashion.
The police today have similar organisational structure to the military,
but aren't actually military (in most countries anyway).
Starfleet is military in the sense that it one of its jobs is to
protect the Federation, but it also has diplomatic, exploration, and
scientific sides.
Starfleet
---------
Starfleet was the deep space exploratory and defense service
maintained by the United Federation of Planets. Its principal
functions included the advancement of Federation knowledge
about the galaxy and its inhabitants, the advancement of
Federation science and technology, the defense of the
Federation, and the facilitation of Federation diplomacy.
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https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Starfleet>