Judge Frank Caprio’s death leaves mourners remembering his compassion that drew many online fans

Providence Municipal Court Judge Frank Caprio sits on the bench in Providence, R.I., Aug. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Michelle R. Smith, File)

People from all over the world lined up 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 humour 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.

Judge was known all over the world for showing kindness

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 one 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 US$400.

Providence resident Freida Adams, who waited in line to pay her respects to Caprio on Thursday, came before Caprio for in his courtroom for a parking ticket-- an interaction she never forgot. She said he asked her for her story, and she told him about being a foster mother to 27 children over the years. He was moved.

“He had so much compassion and love. He said, ‘You know what? Since you was a foster mother, you don’t have to pay it,’” she said. “That’s the kind of love that judge had for everyone and everybody. He had good morals and he loved everybody and he didn’t treat no one no different from he treated anyone.”

Adams said she cried when she learned Caprio died.

“If more judges was like him, it would be a better world today because he was a fair judge, he’s a just judge, he’s a caring judge and he’s a true man of God,” she said. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world because that’s how much respect I have for the judge.”

Riccardo Giannini flew in for Caprio’s services from France, where he said Caprio’s death had been all over the news.

“It’s amazing -- the simplicity, the kindness, and how far that goes,” he said.

Caprio had a working-class background

According to his biography, Caprio came from humble beginnings, the second of three boys in an Italian immigrant family in the Federal Hill neighbourhood of Providence, Rhode Island. He said he 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. His father also worked as a fruit peddler.

“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.”

Caprio’s cousin Carol Caprio Stravato grew up on the same street as Caprio in the tenement buildings their fathers bought working as fruit peddlers.

“No matter what he did through his whole life, he always made the family very proud,” she said. “We didn’t come from money. He worked for everything he had. That’s why he had compassion for the working man.”

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.

By Leah Willingham