The sentencing of criminals in republics is very removed from democratic action (see drug criminalization).
Show us the votes, then. Did a majority of miners and/or coinholders vote to hard-fork?
Yup, and I don't want public votes to decide the amount of money I have.
Unfortunately, there is no alternative. The value of what you have is decided by what people are willing to pay for it in markets. If people decide that they value the forked ETH that doesn't provide the money to the people who stole from the DAO more than the version where those people have all of the money, then it is going to be more valuable. You don't escape this problem with fiat either.
Basic market mechanisms like this are pretty much inescapable.
As I said, there is no escaping market mechanisms, as value is market contextual. Certainly, there are assets with more or less stable value, but that is still due to the whims of what people (ie. the "public") are willing to pay.
If I'm, say, from a persecuted cultural group, I'll want to keep my wealth in an asset that has the same value whether I or someone else own it. Precious metals fit this bill better than both fiat and public-ledger cryptocurrencies.