People from all over the world are expected to pay tribute to Frank Caprio, a retired municipal judge who found online fame as an empathetic jurist and host of “ Caught in Providence,” at memorial services beginning Thursday in his home state of Rhode Island.
Caprio, who won hearts with the folksy humor and compassion he brought to his courtroom, had pancreatic cancer and died on Aug. 20 at 88.
His family said they had been moved by the outpouring of support since Caprio's passing and the “thousands of requests from people around the world" who wanted to pray with the family at Caprio's service.
Caprio's son, David Caprio, welcomed members of the public to attend his father's visitation on Thursday and his Friday funeral Mass at Providence’s Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul, which will also be livestreamed on the former judge's social media pages. In a phone interview with The Associated Press, he said supporters of his father were traveling to Rhode Island from as far as the Philippines to attend his services.
“Your love is really helping us through this difficult time," David Caprio said in a video posted on social media.
Caprio billed his courtroom as a place “where people and cases are met with kindness and compassion.” He was known for dismissing tickets or showing kindness even when he handed out justice. The show, produced by his brother, ran for more than two decades on local television until being nationally syndicated in 2018. Caprio retired from the bench in 2023.
Clips from the show have had more than 1 billion views on social media. 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.
According to his biography, Caprio came from humble beginnings, the second of three boys in an Italian immigrant family in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. He said learned compassion from his father, who would wake Caprio and his brother up at four in the morning to accompany him on his route delivering milk.
“I saw firsthand how other hardworking people couldn’t afford to pay their bill and I saw how my dad treated them, you know?" Caprio told journalist Adrienne Bankert while promoting his biography, “Compassion in Court: Life-Changing Stories from America's Nicest Judge,” earlier this year. "His company ordered him to stop delivery if they missed paying for two weeks. He never stopped delivery. Never.”
In a 2017 interview with the AP, Caprio said he knows that his courtroom may be the only interaction with the justice system many people ever have. He wanted it to be a positive one.
“Whether it’s justified or not, I think there is distrust of the institutions of government," he said. "I think there’s a sense that there’s lacking in understanding and compassion and kindness with the institutions of government ... I’m not trying to change the world, but I’m trying to do my part to dispel those thoughts, those feelings.”
Caprio's funeral visitation will take place at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence on Thursday from 3 to 7 p.m. and be followed by a funeral Mass at Providence’s Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul on Friday at 10 a.m.
Leah Willingham, The Associated Press
