@boxo@anarchism.space 🤔 in that case i'm betting the teacher, if they're canny, is being intentionally ambiguous

get good student brownie points by talking about both senses of object of law - the purpose of the law, and the people directly affected by it. top it off with a nice little half-twist of "one cannot truly separate the intent of the action and the effect of the action" to look extra smartypants.