Marc Snider, a divorced dad who regularly attends legislative hearings on family-law bills, calls himself "a righteous force for equality and fairness in the true best interests of New Hampshire's children." But his tactics go too far, some lawmakers and lobbyists said.

Last year, Snider posted a photo of a lobbyist, identifying her and others he says do the bidding of "radical anti-father ideologues" and manipulate policy from "the shadows." He has also posted pictures of House Children and Family Law Committee members on his website, along with a scorecard to be filled in with their votes.

He has videotaped multiple committee hearings, including one last week where he pointed his camera toward the audience – making a couple of lobbyists from family organizations feel intimidated or reluctant to testify, said Rep. Mary Stuart Gile, a Concord Democrat who raised the issue at a subsequent committee session. "There were a number of people who felt threatened," she said.

Debates over custody and child-support legislation typically draw impassioned fathers who say the divorce system discriminates against them by creating two classes of parents. Many tell stories about their struggles to maintain access to their children and some regularly send e-mails to lawmakers.

But Snider has moved past the realm of policy with his website, said Grace Mattern, executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. 

"It's one thing to disagree with someone about a subject area, but to take it to a level of being personal and to make incorrect statements about an organization, I think, is really unfair," she said. Snider and others allied with him have contributed to a "new level of animosity" over family-law issues, Mattern said.

Others see Snider as the victim of a smear campaign. The issue has split members of the House committee, some of whom say the lobbyists are overreacting.

"If you're going to throw it, you've got to be able to receive it. And if they're on the receiving end, they don't like it," said Rep. Karen McRae, vice chairwoman of the committee and a Goffstown Republican. Any lobbyist afraid to be videotaped "should get out of politics right now," she said.

Rep. David Bickford, a committee member who has sponsored several bills that Snider supports, called the complaints about discomfort a last-ditch tactic used by lobbyists to divert attention from the merits of legislation. "They're trying to play that they're the victims," said Bickford, a New Durham Republican. "I find that underhanded. I don't believe for a minute they're intimidated."

Snider said too much has been made of the lobbying page on his website, which includes a photo of Coalition lobbyist Amanda Grady, her work contact number and information about her other political activities, including a link to another site with her personal phone number. Bickford came to Snider's aid last fall when concerns were first raised. The site contains only public information, he said, and anyone who calls the page threatening is playing "dirty politics."

Snider, a software engineer from Merrimack, has been a fixture at family-law hearings for about a year. After his 2001 divorce, he spent more than two years struggling to gain 40 percent legal custody of his daughter, now 9. His ex-wife "conspired with the courts and family law to keep us apart," he said.

As Snider started to research the system and meet other fathers with similar stories, he took an interest in policy. That's when he discovered, he said, that family law tended to be shaped less by family interests than by "father-hating groups that don't believe that fathers should play, need to play or must play an active role in the lives of their children."

The website and videotaping are not about personal attacks, Snider said, but about lending transparency to the process. He removed the photos of legislators from his site last year after some complained. But he has no plans to turn his focus from the lobbyists, he said.

Last year, lawmakers passed the Parental Rights and Responsibilities Act, a measure designed to make divorce less acrimonious and focus parents on sharing responsibilities. But legislatorsheld off on a bill that would give both parents 50 percent custody at the start of court proceedings. That bill would also require a judge or court official to explain the rationale behind custody decisions. Snider is a staunch advocate of those measures as well as others, like a bill that would revise the child-support formula so payments would be tied to custody, giving fathers financial credit for time with their children.

Many of the dads who testify want all their reforms enacted at once, Gile said, but they need to be patient with the legislative process. She said that pinpointing individual lobbyists for criticism isn't the right way to advocate change. "It doesn't do his cause any good to make people angry, to threaten people," she said. "If good, quality change is going to come about, then it's got to come about in a reasonable and thoughtful way."

Linda Griebsch, public policy director for the Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, said the debate grew more rancorous last year than it had been in the previous decade. Last fall especially, she said, "when people would testify with an opposing viewpoint, there was definitely jeering, laughing - just general disrespect for the people who are testifying."

No formal allegations have been filed against Snider. But that didn't stop him from sending a letter to the committee chairman, the governor, the Executive Council and others this week expressing his concern about an attempt by lobbyists to discredit him by painting him as a threatening presence, "to prevent my continued participation in the legislative process." He also requested that all committee business be videotaped by the state.

That's unlikely to happen, for budget reasons. But state law gives Snider the right to tape, subject to "reasonable restrictions."Rep. Ed Moran, the Children and Family Law Committee chairman, said he would ask anyone seeking to videotape in the future to check with him first, "to make sure the equipment is set up and operated in the least obtrusive manner possible." Otherwise, he hoped to avoid the fray between Snider and the lobbyists. "We really try to stay out of the histrionics," he said.

------ End of article

By ERIC MOSKOWITZ

Monitor staff

---

About time the Monitor ran some feedback -