(Not to mention in government in general.) “America’s nicest judge” is gone, leaving behind a plethora of fans who laughed and wept as the judge passed down humane sentences on the TV documentary series Caught in Providence (A different kind of judge. A court room like no other.) for things as mundane as a speeding violation or a parking ticket.
Speaking of sentences, below this very sentence is one of the best videos (two cases, actually, the first one ending at 5:29) from Judge Caprio's Rhode Island courtroom:
in the National Catholic Register:
Frank Caprio, who served as a Providence, Rhode Island, municipal court judge for nearly 40 years and came to be known as “America’s nicest judge,” passed away on Aug. 20 from pancreatic cancer.
“Beloved 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. His warmth, humor, and kindness left an indelible mark on all who knew him,” read a statement posted on his official Facebook page.
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee ordered flags in the state to be flown at half staff at all state agencies and buildings until the day of Caprio’s internment, and he also asked Rhode Island residents to lower their flags out of respect.
Caprio gained worldwide fame for a lenient judicial style that blended justice, extreme empathy, and mercy when his courtroom was televised in a program called Caught in Providence. The program began in 1999 and went viral in 2017, achieving hundreds of millions of views since then. The show was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 2021 and has a YouTube channel with nearly 3 million subscribers.
… When handing down judgments for low-level offenses like parking and speeding tickets, Caprio told EWTN News correspondent Colm Flynn on EWTN News In Depth in February that he always kept in mind something his father, a hardworking Italian immigrant with a fifth-grade education, had impressed upon him: “What might seem like a small fine to some was something that many couldn’t afford.”
… “I was just trying to be decent with everyone. I never sat on the bench and thought I was better than anyone else or that I was superior to them in any way,” Caprio told Flynn.
… His former municipal courtroom was renamed “The Chief Judge Frank Caprio Courtroom” in 2023.
An avid Boston Red Sox fan, Caprio threw the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park in 2019.
In 2025 he published his memoir, Compassion in the Court: Life-Changing Stories from America’s Nicest Judge.
(While I have been doing little for the past two months but fighting to restore No Pasarán — thanks to everybody who has responded to my cries for help — I am blogging at Le Monde Watch, NP's sister blog.)
No comments:
Post a Comment