by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
United States Magistrate Judge Howard Snyder will hang up his robe at the end of the week, ending a 29-year career on the bench and a professional career that also included the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and private practice.
Snyder, who turns 65 at the end of the month, could work longer since his current term of appointment hasn’t ended. However, his wife Nancy — a former superintendent of schools for Duval County — retired a few years ago and he says it’s time to go see the world.
“I have mixed feelings,” said Snyder, who is from Miami, went to Stetson University in Deland for his undergraduate degree and law school at Stetson in St. Petersburg. “I’m fortunate in that I have a job I love coming to every single day. On the other side, I am close to 65 and my wife and I would like to do some things. I’d like to travel and come back and do some volunteer work.”
Since high school, there have been two constants in Snyder’s life: Nancy and his desire to be a judge.
“I knew in high school, and this sounds crazy, that I wanted to go into the ministry of be a judge,” said Snyder.
The marriage came before the bench, but along the way Snyder did interesting and enjoyable work. He was a special agent for the FBI in Jackson and Vicksburg, Miss. where he worked on bank robberies, stolen cars, racial issues and others. Snyder was from one of the most southern points in the country, but his time in Mississippi took him to “the South” and with that came a bit of culture shock.
“But, it was the time of my life,” said Snyder, who also worked for the FBI in St. Louis. “It was sensational because I was out of my element. It was really a life-changing experience to be there.”
After leaving the FBI, he worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Jacksonville before eventually going into private practice with James Harrison.
“Our focus was on criminal defense, but we were willing to take on most any sort of representation,” he said.
In late 1979 or early ‘80 — he’s not sure — Snyder was named chief assistant to the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. At the time Snyder made it very clear that if a magistrate judgeship opened up, he intended to apply.
A year later, he was appointed to a job he kept for 29 years.
“He represents everything good in the judiciary,” said Senior Judge Patricia Fawcett, a former chief judge of the Middle District. “I wish he was not retiring, but I wish him well in his new life. He has served his court so faithfully and with such intelligence and commitment. He’s one in a million.”
Snyder said all three jobs prior to becoming a judge served him well on the bench.
“In the FBI, I learned to investigate and see how a case is put together and I learned an appreciation for evidentiary development. As a U.S. attorney, I prosecuted cases and learned the rules and how to apply the facts and establish those facts in front of a jury,” he explained. “Criminal defense provided an entirely different perspective. I saw the other side and learned the humanity of it.”
The humanity has evolved to humility. Snyder says it will be difficult to walk away from a job he loves and coworkers he calls his “court family.” There’s a big reception for him Wednesday and a light docket for the week. Aside from all of that, Snyder is looking forward to seeing the world and wants to quietly go home Friday afternoon.
“I really want to leave on a low-key note,” he said. “I’ve done my job.”
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