"HB 529 would require
the New Hampshire courts
to presume that when entering
a divorce or legal separation,
both parents are entitled
to equal parenting rights
and responsibilities,"
said Snider, who may qualify
as a self-taught Ph.D. on
state custody law, having
invested thousands of hours
in researching the subject
since losing custody of
his now 8-year-old daughter
-- and his $500,000 mortgage-free
Nashua home -- to his ex-wife
and her third husband three
years ago. "Further,
the bill states that if
there is clear and convincing
evidence that equal parenting
is not in the child's best
interest, then the judge
or marital master is required
by law to write down the
specific reasons why."
Despite impassioned pleas
from Snider and other divorced
dads during a packed, two-day
public hearing before the
House Child and Family Law
Committee in March, a majority
of committee members, led
by Chairman Ed Moran and
Vice Chairman Karen McRae,
opted to "retain"
HB529 for more study, rather
than propel it into the
full House.
Although HB529 is apparently
in legislative limbo, Rep.
McRae of Goffstown, who
counts herself among just
a handful of committee members
willing to openly support
the bill as is, insists
the legislation isn't dead.
"I really feel for
the fathers out there,"
said McRae. "It's incredible
what the courts have put
them through. We have to
come out with something
in November to go before
the full House in January.
Hopefully, it gives us time
during the summer to really
talk with our members and
get them off top dead center
so we can push (HB)529 along."
Although McRae's words
may thrill reform-minded
dads who claim they have
been unjustly excluded from
their children's lives,
Snider recognizes the great
difficulty his group faces
in trying to remove the
existing prejudice that
favors mothers in most "winner-take-all"
custody disputes.
"We believe children
need both a caring mom and
dad in their lives,"
said Snider, who has posted
reams of child-development
studies to back up this
belief on his Web site --
www.nhcustody.org Too
often, Snider said, divorce
lawyers advise mothers to
take full advantage of the
entrenched gender bias by
making divorce and custody
hearings as acrimonious
as possible.
After bearing witness
to what divorced dads refer
to as "manufactured
acrimony," Snider claims
judges and marital masters
usually determine that this
former couple "simply
cannot get along,"
and the outcome of these
bitter domestic court squabbles
-- regardless of who started
the fight -- is a more restrictive
custodial agreement that
routinely "punishes"
fathers by depriving them
access.
A majority of Child and
Family Law Committee members,
who voted to retain HB529
a day after the public hearings
ended, were not convinced
of the bill's appeal.
"I just think the
bill needs to be studied
more before we give blanket
50-50 custody in all cases,"
said Rep. Julie Brown of
Rochester, who has been
on the committee for 17
years. "I do think
many men deserve more access
to their children and the
courts should be taken to
task for not doing a better
job. But I believe by working
on the bill all summer in
subcommittee we can turn
out a really great bill.
We just need to go over
it line by line, make sure
everything is correct."
Such apparent legislative
footdragging infuriates
Snider.
"The most amazing
thing to me is that legislators
refuse to do the right thing,"
said Snider, who said he
has incurred an estimated
$30,000 in court costs to
win "about 35 percent"
shared visitation rights
with his daughter. "Back
in the days of slavery and
when women couldn't vote,
the status quo was strong
then, too, and you know
what? The status quo was
wrong. A reform victory
for fathers here in New
Hampshire will mean more
publicity and momentum for
the reform efforts coming
in other states. Children
need both a caring mom and
dad in their lives."