A judge on Tuesday sentenced more than a dozen immigrant rights advocates to one day in jail stemming from a protest last year over Arizona's controversial immigration law, but they got credit for the day they spent behind bars at the time of their arrest.

Justice of the Peace David Seyer handed down the sentence about three weeks after finding the group of protesters guilty of a misdemeanor charge of disobeying police orders. They had faced up to four months in jail and a maximum $700 fine.

The group was arrested July 29, 2010, when dozens of protesters took to Phoenix streets on the day Arizona's new immigration law was set to take effect. They also were speaking out against Maricopa County Sheriff Arpaio, who organized an immigration patrol the day the law took effect.

The protesters massed outside one of Arpaio's jails, beating on a metal door and forcing sheriff's deputies to call for backup. Officers in riot gear opened the doors, waded into the crowd and hauled off those who didn't move.

A judge ended up putting the most contentious parts of the law on hold. The fight likely is headed to the Supreme Court.

Among the protesters was the Rev. Peter Morales, president of the Boston-based Unitarian Universalist Association. Morales lives in Arvada, Colo., and Salem, Mass., and was elected as the first Latino president of the association in 2009.

"The sentence was as lenient as it could be without dismissing the charges," Morales told The Associated Press from Arvada after attending the hearing by phone. "So I believe that the judge was clearly moved and affected by the character and the idealism and the comportment of the defendants."

He said he had no immediate plans to return to Phoenix for a protest but that the Unitarian Universalist Association was holding its general assembly in Phoenix next June and will hold an immigration protest at that time.

"Joe Arpaio hasn't seen anything yet," Morales said. "We will make our disagreement and displeasure known."

He said the protest likely wouldn't involve civil disobedience that led to his arrest last year.

Arpaio's spokespeople did not immediately return a request for comment.