Both the law and the judges need to be changed. Both of those duties fall to the legislature. IMO, this specific case is much more a judicial problem, and illuminates a systemic breakdown of balance of powers to boot. The judges play word games while they moon the legislature, and the public. Civil law is ill equipped to make life and death decision. Civil law is designed to handle money and proerty disputes.
I do agree with Franklin and Adams. "A Republic ma'am, if you can keep it," and "a form of government fit only for a moral people." The law alone has never sustained a societry indefinately. There must be something more.
The judge in this case was elected by the citizens of the county. If the people elect bad judges, there is not much we can do about that.