Folksy judge, 80, has become unlikely Facebook star
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — You wouldn’t think an 80-year-old judge would make for a viral video, but somehow Municipal Court Judge Frank Caprio has been winning hearts and clicks on Facebook with a mix of compassion, humor and a rotating cast of the poor souls who have been ticketed in Providence.
Videos featuring the kindhearted judge have now reached hundreds of millions of views.
Caprio calls children to come up on the bench to help pass judgment on their parents and makes high schoolers promise to attend college in return for dropping tickets. He works out payment plans for people who are struggling. He even gets laughs when he turns down pleas for a break.
The judge thinks he’s gone viral because people have lost faith in government and are accustomed to institutions coming down hard without regard for personal circumstances.
“I think I should take into consideration whether somebody is sick and whether their mother died and whether they have kids who are starving,” he said. “I don’t wear a badge under my robe. I wear a heart under my robe.”
One video features a woman who had racked up tickets and fines of $400. She broke down as she described trying to pick up the pieces after her son was stabbed to death.
“I’m just really having a tough time, your honor,” she told the judge through tears, as Caprio listened attentively. He dismissed the tickets. The case has been viewed nearly 170 million times on Facebook and given subtitles in nine languages.
Commenters from around the world weigh in on the videos about the judge’s tenderhearted approach and the American court system, something Caprio mentions with pride.
“I may be adding just a little bit more understanding toward the United States system of government and how it works, that we are a decent peaceloving people, and not how we’re being portrayed in other parts of the world,” he said.
He learned his compassion from his father, an immigrant from Italy and fruit peddlerturned-milkman, who would pay milk bills for customers who fell behind.
After building a law practice, Caprio became a part-time judge on the municipal court in 1985, hearing mostly non-criminal matters. A few years later, his brother, Joe, began filming the proceedings, calling the show “Caught in Providence.”
It has aired locally since then, but Caprio’s fame took off after shorter clips started appearing on Facebook last year, posted by Joe’s production company.
When he’s not on the bench, the judge has a busy law firm, owns an oceanfront restaurant and keeps up an active social life as the head of a sprawling family.
Back in the courtroom, Caprio said he’s not trying to change the world, but he’s trying to do his part.
“In the final analysis, I’m only doing what my father taught me to do,” Caprio said. “I’m following his advice, and it resonated in the world.”