Judge Caputo puts integrity first

A former police officer, criminal defense and family lawyer, and as a municipal and District Judge, James Caputo has worked with the Hispanic community throughout his entire career.

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“[As a lawyer] I developed a very large Hispanic clientele,” Caputo recalled. “I volunteered services at Plaza Santa Cecilia one night a week to sit down and talk to folks about their legal issues, whether it was a contract for a deed on a house, or a divorce, or a criminal issue… I was there to talk to them for free.”

Caputo said that when he first became a judge, the main difficulty was making sure he made the right decisions for those who came into his court.

“I do a criminal docket, so it’s ‘do you go to prison’ or ‘do you not go to prison,’ those are the decisions I have to make,” the judge explained. “Over the years, the judge job that I have is still very challenging, but it’s a lot easier to do now because I know a lot of the nuances of being a judge.”

For those who appear before him, Caputo said that he treats each case individually and avoids making any premature decisions.

“I take every case one at a time,” Caputo said. “I don’t cookie-cut and I don’t put people in categories. It doesn’t matter who they are or what race they are or what gender they are, I take each case one at a time.”

The judge explained that, for those who may not have documentation, he doesn’t allow that to be part of the procedure or effect how he rules.

“I refuse to deal with immigration issues in my courtroom,” Caputo insisted. “Immigration issues are federal and I won’t address them in my courtroom, in the felony docket courtroom. There’s no place for it there. If there’s not a hold on them when they come it, there’s not a hold on them when they leave.”

Asked about the claims of some defendants that have felt other judges treated them as guilty before they were even tried, Caputo acknowledged this does occur.

“I know that could happen,” he said, but insisted it won’t ever happen in his courtroom. “I’m very familiar with the [Latin] culture, I’m very familiar with the family unit, and I’m very familiar with the challenges that the Hispanic community faces. We’re all capable of making mistakes in the courtroom as judges, but I don’t make judgments based on this person is Hispanic, or this person is black, or this person is something else. None of that matters to me.”

For those defendants who don’t speak English, Caputo said their attorneys get to choose their interpreters, and he has worked with all of them over the years.

“It’s a very small group of interpreters that work in the courtroom, and I know all of them,” the judge said. “So I know which ones do a good job and which ones don’t do such a good job, so I’m always mindful of who’s coming in and the job they’re going to do.”

Although he presides over criminal court, Judge Caputo doesn’t feel that prison is the answer for every defendant.

“What I try to do is always give somebody the opportunity to make things right,” he said. “If it’s alcohol or drugs, I don’t like sending them to prison right away – I like giving them a chance to have probation and get help for their drug or alcohol addictions so that they don’t have to go to prison, and they can stay with their family and stay with their jobs. I very rarely send anybody to prison just because they have a drug problem – I’d rather that they get help.”

During his eight years as a judge, Caputo acknowledges that he has made some mistakes.

“I’ve had several decisions I’ve made that I’ve felt were wrong, and whenever I can I go back and change them,” the judge said. “And I’ve been chastised for that, I’ve been criticized for that. But if I think I’ve done something wrong and I can make it right, I make it right.”

“I had a gentleman that I sent to prison for ten years,” Caputo remembered, “and I couldn’t sleep that night because I felt it was the wrong sentence. And I came back the next day and changed it and gave him probation.”

Hoping that voters will appreciate his fairness and integrity, Caputo is seeking another four-year term on November 6th. (La Semana)