How does Atticus quietly protest Jim Crow laws even before Tom Robinson's trial?

' first act
of protest is accepting his appointment as Tom Robinson's lawyer. Atticus does this even though
he knows that the legal battle he is about to engage in is ultimately useless; it is clear that
the racist Southern town of Maycomb will condemn Tom before the trial even begins. Tom does not
have a fighting chance of winning the trial, yet Atticus makes sure that he does have a chance
to be heard in court, even if it...