Frank Caprio Sr., a municipal judge in Providence, R.I., who exemplified empathy on the bench and became known far beyond the state because of his nationally syndicated television show, has died. He was 88.
The cause was pancreatic cancer, his family said in a statement, which did not say when or where he died. He retired from Providence Municipal Court in 2023, after almost 40 years on the bench.
Judge Caprio said his courtroom was “where people and cases are met with kindness and compassion.” That was in striking contrast to other TV judges who showed a harsher attitude toward defendants.
It was his TV show, “Caught in Providence,” on the Law & Crime network, that catapulted him to fame later in his life. Clips from the program have more than 800 million views combined on its YouTube channel.
The show broadcast real proceedings for traffic infractions, housing and zoning issues, and minor criminal offenses inside a municipal courtroom. It began airing on public access cable in Providence in 1988. It was produced by Judge Caprio’s brother Joseph.
The show began attracting national attention about 2017 when video clips were posted online. It caught the eye of producers because of its “completely fresh approach.”
The syndicated version of the show began in the fall of 2018 and it featured fresh episodes directly from his courtroom, making him an octogenarian star. By the end of the 2010s, about 200 stations across the country broadcast the program. New episodes ended when Mr. Caprio retired in 2023.
“We are different from any other court production in that we show actual proceedings in real time,” he said in 2019. “Everything is spontaneous, and the people who appear must abide by the judgment.”
In one popular clip, Judge Caprio tossed out a speeding charge against a 96-year-old man after learning that he had been driving his son to a cancer treatment.
“You really are what America is all about,” Judge Caprio told the man. “Here you are in your 90s, and you’re still taking care of your family. That’s just a wonderful thing.”
Judge Caprio traveled extensively for speeches and to meet his fans. His municipal courthouse, somewhat improbably, ended up a tourist destination.
“Judge Caprio touched the lives of millions through his work in the courtroom and beyond,” his family’s message on Facebook said.
Judge Caprio’s courthouse is on Federal Hill, a neighborhood that in the 1920s became one of the most densely populated Italian American communities in the country. He was born in 1936, and he was the second of three boys born to his mother, Filomena, and his father, Antonio, who worked as a fruit peddler and milkman.
He told a Providence College publication that he recalled huddling with his family in winters “with the oven door open so we could get heat.” On one of those nights, he said, his father told him that he would become a lawyer someday.
“Look around, if I needed a lawyer, I couldn’t afford one,” he said his father told him. “Remember that. You can never forget where you came from.”
As a child, Judge Caprio shined shoes, delivered newspapers, and also worked on a milk truck. He later said that this upbringing gave him the empathetic perspective he brought to his courtroom.
“I saw my father get up every day at 4 o’clock in the morning to go to work,” he said. “He never complained.”
Judge Caprio graduated from Providence Central High School, where he won a state title in wrestling in 1953. He graduated from Providence College in 1958.
He worked as a public school teacher in Providence while attending Suffolk University School of Law in Boston at night to earn his law degree. At the same time, he served on the Providence City Council beginning in 1962. He later ran for state attorney general.
He served as a judge for the Providence Municipal Court for 38 years, retiring in 2023.
“Judge 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,” Gov. Dan McKee of Rhode Island said in a statement.
“He was more than a jurist — he was a symbol of empathy on the bench, showing us what is possible when justice is tempered with humanity.”
Governor McKee ordered all U.S. and Rhode Island flags at state agencies and buildings to be flown at half-staff until Judge Caprio’s interment.
Judge Caprio is survived by his wife, Joyce Caprio, five children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Two of his children, Frank T. Caprio, a former state treasurer, and David A. Caprio, a former state representative, were public officials in Rhode Island.
Adeel Hassan, a New York-based reporter for The Times, covers breaking news and other topics.
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