I never thought about it like that, but I agree. Chakotay was the one keeping everybody from going crazy. Not just controlling the Maquis, he was the one who talked down Janeway from doing insane crap and then defended Janeway's insane crap to the crew.
I doubt they would have kept 30 people in the brig for 70 years. Besides the cruelty of it, it'd be logistically challenging, a drag on resources, and it'd risk a bloody internal struggle any time the power went down because of course in the future brigs don't have a physical backup to the forcefields. There would probably have been an ultimatum of 'Integrate into our crew or we'll leave you on a planet of your choosing'.
I doubt they would have kept 30 people in the brig for 70 years. Besides the cruelty of it, it'd be logistically challenging, a drag on resources, and it'd risk a bloody internal struggle any time the power went down because of course in the future brigs don't have a physical backup to the forcefields. There would probably have been an ultimatum of 'Integrate into our crew or we'll leave you on a planet of your choosing'.