Chief Judge Mark Jones refused this week to formally comment on an ad published by Attorney David Paul Horan on the eve of the Republican primary election, highly critical of Attorney Michael Barnes. At that time, Barnes was a candidate for State Attorney. He subsequently lost the election by 105 votes. In the ad, Horan characterized the opinion of "most of the judges" as negative toward Barnes.
But privately, Jones is reportedly furious at Horan for "using" the judges to attack a political candidate. The Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits judges from participating in political campaigns other than their own.
Jones should be more sensitive to vicious campaign surprises than most. When he was challenging longtime incumbent Judge Richard Fowler in 1996, an anonymously-published flyer appeared up and down the Keys that characterized his wife and inlaws as criminals.