I suspect that MCAS not being constrained by control column position was a deliberate decision. Possibly because if it was, that would defeat the purpose of it’s existence.
No disagreement there. But the resulting design reeks of not having been adequately studied from a safety standpoint. We aren't talking complicated. A single point of failure causing undesired system performance should be obvious to even the most junior Electrical Engineer.
When flying any of the 6 different jets in my logbook in manual flight, I would have regarded any uncommanded activation of the aircraft trim system as akin to having a rattlesnake in the cockpit. In those days, that was a defensible boundary. Today, with STS /MCAS (Boeing) and C*(Airbus), that easily defended perimeter is no more.
All I can say to those of you who are still flying heavy iron is to absolutely know how to effectively and quickly stop any undesired trim activation on your aircraft, and to be alert for any inappropriate long trim activations.
It would be a very sad thing to learn from the CVR that JT610's crew wasn't certain of the exact procedure to disable their electric pitch trim system. From their communications with ATC, they acknowledged a flight control problem!