Oddly enough, this was decided when we selected the Ten Commandments to be used as a basis for punishment. It was decided when the king of England signed the Magna Charta at Runnymede in 1215. Even before this happened, we accepted the belief that man was made in the image and likeness of God. In so doing, we accepted that man had no right to kill another man because he was executing a portion of God. Today, some folks want revenge for killing a loved one.
Some people feel killing is justified.
Gov. Gray Davis is continuing down the path of subsidizing the power users of California with taxpayer dollars. When you subsidize power, people will to use more of it. Higher prices would send the clear message we all need to hear. We have painted ourselves into a corner and we must conserve power. Subsidizing power rates only makes things much worse.