interesting point. it's also interesting, though, that governments and law enforcement are completely willing to treat objects as individuals when they want to

interesting point. it's also interesting, though, that governments and law enforcement are completely willing to treat objects as individuals when they want to confiscate it. my understanding of many civil forfeiture laws is that they "charge" the object with drug trafficking, or whatever, and then take it when the object doesn't mount a vigorous legal defense. (i'd be happy to be corrected by someone who understands this better than me; I'm just pointing out that it's a related legal issue) from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_forfeiture_in_the_United... : Civil forfeiture begins when government suspects that a property is connected with illegal drug activity, and files a civil action:[20] The government simply files a civil action in rem against the property itself, and then generally must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the property is forfeitable under the applicable forfeiture statute. Civil forfeiture is independent of any criminal case, and because of this, the forfeiture action may be filed before indictment, after indictment, or even if there is no indictment. Likewise, civil forfeiture may be sought in cases in which the owner is criminally acquitted of the underlying crimes ... — Craig Gaumer, Assistant United States Attorney, 2007[20]