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I think your slavery analogy holds. I don’t think the Federation believes Data can be a slave because they don’t believe he is sentient. But they do pick and choose how to apply their legal code to Data.
You absolutely must watch this episode https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Measure_of_a_Man_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation) the entire premise is that Picard provides a legal defense for the personhood of Data. The episode is literally a court case and it is one of the most well received episodes.
I think your slavery analogy holds. I don’t think the Federation believes Data can be a slave because they don’t believe he is sentient. But they do pick and choose how to apply their legal code to Data.
Thanks for the responses. Also, of course the federation is not consistent with their own laws.