PROVIDENCE: Frank Caprio, a retired municipal judge in Rhode Island who found online fame as a caring jurist and host of \u201d Caught in Providence,\u201d has died. He was 88.<\/p>\n
His official social media accounts said Wednesday that he \u201cpassed away peacefully\u201d after \u201ca long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caprio billed his courtroom as a place \u201cwhere people and cases are met with kindness and compassion.\u201d He was known for dismissing tickets or showing kindness even when he handed out justice.<\/p>\n
Last week, Caprio posted a short video on Facebook about how he had \u201ca setback,\u201d was back in the hospital and was asking that people \u201cremember me in your prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caprio\u2019s show was filmed in his courtroom and featured his folksy humor and compassion. Clips from the show have had more than 1 billion views on social media.<\/p>\n
During his time on the bench, Caprio developed a persona at odds with many TV judges \u2014 more sympathetic and less confrontational and judgmental.<\/p>\n
In his bite-sized segments on YouTube, Caprio is often seen empathizing with those in his courtroom. Many of the infractions are also relatively minor, from failing to use a turn signal to a citation for a loud party.<\/p>\n
Caprio also used his fame to address issues like unequal access to the judicial system.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe phrase, \u2018With liberty and justice for all\u2019 represents the idea that justice should be accessible to everyone. However it is not,\u201d Caprio said in one video. \u201cAlmost 90 percent of low-income Americans are forced to battle civil issues like health care, unjust evictions, veterans benefits and, yes, even traffic violations, alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caprio\u2019s upbeat take on the job of a judge drew him millions of views. His most popular videos have been those where he calls children to the bench to help pass judgment on their parents. One shows him listening sympathetically to a woman whose son was killed and then dismissing her tickets and fines of $400.<\/p>\n
In another clip, after dismissing a red-light violation for a bartender who was making $3.84 per hour, Caprio urged those watching the video not to duck out on their bills.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anyone\u2019s watching I want them to know you better not eat and run because you\u2019re going to get caught and the poor people who are working hard all day for three bucks an hour are going to have to pay your bill,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His fame reached as far as China, where clips of his show have been uploaded to social media in recent years. Some fans there posted about his death, recalling and praising the humanity he showed in his rulings.<\/p>\n
His family described Caprio \u201cas a devoted husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBeloved for his compassion, humility, and unwavering belief in the goodness of people, Judge Caprio touched the lives of millions through his work in the courtroom and beyond,\u201d the family wrote online. \u201cHis warmth, humor, and kindness left an indelible mark on all who knew him.\u201d<\/p>\n
State and local politicians mourned his passing and celebrated his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cJudge Caprio not only served the public well, but he connected with them in a meaningful way, and people could not help but respond to his warmth and compassion,\u201d Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said in a statement. \u201cHe was more than a jurist \u2014 he was a symbol of empathy on the bench, showing us what is possible when justice is tempered with humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert Leonard, who co-owned a restaurant with Caprio, said he was \u201cgoing to be sorely missed\u201d and was \u201call around wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is nothing he wouldn\u2019t do for you if he could do it,\u201d Leonard said.<\/p>\n
Caprio retired from Providence Municipal Court in 2023 after nearly four decades on the bench.<\/p>\n
According to his biography, Caprio came from humble beginnings, the second of three boys growing up in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope that people will take away that the institutions of government can function very well by exercising kindness, fairness, and compassion in their deliberations. We live in a very contentious society,\u201d he said in 2017. \u201cI would hope that people will see that we can dispense justice without being oppressive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PROVIDENCE: Frank Caprio, a retired municipal judge in Rhode Island who found online fame as a caring jurist and host of \u201d Caught in Providence,\u201d has died. He was 88. His official social media accounts said Wednesday that he \u201cpassed away peacefully\u201d after \u201ca long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.\u201d Caprio billed his courtroom …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":85669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85657"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85670,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85657\/revisions\/85670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}