Francesco Caprio (born November 24, 1936) is an American retired judge and politician who served as the chief judge of the

municipal court A city court or municipal court is a court of law with jurisdiction limited to a city or other municipality. It typically addresses "violations of city ordinances and may also have jurisdiction over minor criminal cases...and over certain civil cas ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, and chairman of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education. His judicial work is televised on the program ''Caught in Providence''. He has also made appearances in the series '' Parking Wars,'' adjudicating several cases of traffic violations. The Caught in Providence YouTube channel has 2.91 million subscribers. In 2017, his videos in the courtroom went

viral The word ''Viral'' means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). It may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spre ...

, with more than 15 million views. In 2022, views of ''Caught in Providence'' neared 500 million, and one video shared on Pulptastic had 43.6 million views on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. He became well known for his empathy and light humor in court.

Early life and education

Caprio was born in the Italian-American neighborhood of

Federal Hill, Providence Federal Hill is a neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island. It lies immediately west of the city's Downtown, Providence, Rhode Island, Downtown, across Interstate 95 in Rhode Island, Interstate 95. Since the late 19th century, Federal Hill has b ...

, the second of the three sons of Antonio Caprio, an immigrant from

Teano Teano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, northwest of Caserta on the main line to Rome from Naples. It stands at the southeast foot of an extinct volcano, Rocca Monfina. Its St. Clement's cathedral is ...

, Italy, and Filomena Caprio, an

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

mother from

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

whose family had immigrated from

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, Italy. His father worked as a fruit peddler and milkman. Caprio attended the Providence public schools while working as a dishwasher and shoe-shiner. He graduated from Central High School, where he won the state title in wrestling in 1953. He earned a bachelor's degree from

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

in 1958. After graduating, he began teaching American government at Hope High School in Providence. While teaching at Hope, Caprio attended night school at the Suffolk University School of Law in Boston. This led to him joining the legal profession. Caprio also served in the

Rhode Island Army National Guard The Rhode Island Army National Guard (RIARNG) is the land force militia for the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It operates under Title 10 of the United States Code, Title 10 and Title 32 of the United States Code, Title 32 of the United States Code ...

from 1954 to 1962 in the 876th Combat Engineer Battalion. During his time in the Army National Guard, Caprio was assigned to

Camp Varnum Camp Varnum is a Rhode Island Army National Guard training facility in the Boston Neck area of Narragansett, Rhode Island. During World War II it was Fort Varnum, a coastal defense fort. History Fort Varnum was built as part of a general mode ...

in Narragansett and

Fort Indiantown Gap Fort Indiantown Gap, also referred to as "The Gap" or "FIG", is a census-designated place and National Guard Training Center primarily located in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. A portion of the installation is located in eastern ...

in Pennsylvania."A Family of Veterans, Hurricane High Gravity, and Help Yourself"
. Youtube.com. November 15, 2018.Bolinger, James
"Compassionate rulings make judge with soft spot for veterans an internet sensation"
. '' Stars and Stripes''. November 8, 2018.

Career

Caprio was elected to the

Providence City Council The Providence City Council is the fifteen-member legislative body of the city of Providence, Rhode Island. The two major responsibilities of the council are enacting ordinances necessary to ensure the welfare and good order of the city and a ...

in 1962 and served until 1968. He ran for

Attorney General of Rhode Island The attorney general of Rhode Island is the chief legal advisor of the government of the State of Rhode Island and oversees the State of Rhode Island Department of Law. The attorney general is directly elected every four years. The current atto ...

in 1970, but lost the general election to Republican Richard J. Israel, with Israel receiving 56.7% of the vote and Caprio 43.3%. He was elected as a delegate to the Rhode Island Constitutional Convention in 1975 and has been elected as a delegate to five

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

s. He chaired the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, which controls major decisions for the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

Rhode Island College Rhode Island College (RIC) is a public college in Rhode Island, United States, with much of the land in Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, and other parts in North Providence, Rhode Island, North Providence. The college was established in 18 ...

and

Community College of Rhode Island The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) is a public community college in Rhode Island. It is the only community college in the state and the largest community college in New England. The college's primary facility is located in Warwick, wit ...

. Since 1985, he has served as a Providence Municipal Court Judge. Caprio is also a partner in the Coast Guard House Restaurant in

Narragansett, Rhode Island Narragansett is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 14,532 at the 2020 census. However, during the summer months the town's population more than doubles to near 34,000. The town of Narragansett occupie ...

. He released his book ''Frank Caprio Compassion in the Court'' on February 4, 2025.

''Caught in Providence''

Parts of the proceedings over which he presided, featuring low-level citations, ran for more than two decades on local television. Caprio's TV series, ''Caught in Providence'', originated on PEG access television in Rhode Island and was first picked up by ABC station

WLNE-TV WLNE-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Providence, Rhode Island, area. The station is owned by Standard Media, and maintains studios in the Orms ...

in 2000, initially airing late on Saturday nights. After a hiatus, ''Caught in Providence'' returned in 2015 and aired after the 11 o'clock newscasts on Saturdays until September 2017. Clips from this show went viral in the 2010s. The program has also received coverage from media organizations around the world, such as

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

. On September 24, 2018, ''Caught in Providence'' went into national syndication. The show was renewed for a second season of syndication in January 2019. ''Caught in Providence'' is produced by Caprio's brother Joe Caprio, who has stated that the show will cease filming with Caprio's retirement. Fifty episodes are consolidated into a single season and made available on Prime Video.

Community outreach

At Suffolk University School of Law, Caprio founded the Antonio "Tup" Caprio Scholarship Fund. This scholarship, named after Caprio's father, who had only a fifth-grade education, is for Rhode Island students committed to improving access to legal services in Rhode Island urban core neighborhoods. He has also established scholarships at Providence College,

Suffolk Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in downtown Boston, across the street from the Boston Common and the Freedom Trail, two blocks from the Mass ...

, and for graduates of Central High School, named in honor of his father. Caprio has been involved in the Boys Town of Italy, the Nickerson House Juvenile Court and Rhode Island Food Bank. In 1983 he co-chaired the Rhode Island Statue of Liberty Foundation (raising funds for the restoration of the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

and

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

). Caprio was also a member of the Board of Regents of Elementary and Secondary education and the Governor's Pre-K through 16 Council on education. He is a member of the President's Council at Providence College.

Awards and honours

Judge Frank Caprio at the 2021 Bristol Fourth of July Parade

Caprio was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law by his alma mater

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the Private university, private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in Downtown Boston, downtown Boston, across the street from the Boston Common and the Fr ...

in 1991 and

in 2008, and also received an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from the University of Rhode Island in 2016. In August 2018, he received the Producer's Circle Award at the

Rhode Island International Film Festival Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the Newpor ...

. Following Caprio's retirement, the

passed legislation to rename his old municipal courtroom 'The Chief Judge Frank Caprio Courtroom'. The dedication ceremony took place on October 20, 2023. Earlier that month he was sworn in as Chief Judge Emeritus of the Providence Municipal Court, although the title was largely ceremonial and Caprio stated that he had no intention of returning to the bench.

Personal life

Caprio has been married to Joyce E. Caprio for 60 years. They have five children: Frank T. Caprio,

David Caprio David A. Caprio (born June 5, 1967) is an American businessman, investor, lawyer, and politician who served as a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from District 34. He was first elected on December 21, 1999. In 2010, Caprio was ...

, Marissa Caprio Pesce, John Caprio, and Paul Caprio. They have seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. An avid

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

fan, Caprio threw the

ceremonial first pitch The ceremonial first pitch is a longstanding ritual of baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. Originally, the guest threw a ball from their seat in the grandstand to ...

on July 25, 2019, at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

, when the Red Sox played the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. After having recently celebrated his 87th birthday, on December 6, 2023, Caprio announced that he was diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

on a video posted on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

and

. He advised those who wish to support him to keep him in their prayers, and praised his doctors for taking good care of him. He finished his cancer treatment on May 24, 2024.

References

External links

''Caught in Providence''

at ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

'', 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Caprio, Frank Living people 1936 births Rhode Island state court judges Military personnel from Providence, Rhode Island Providence City Council members Suffolk University Law School alumni Providence College alumni Rhode Island Democrats Rhode Island National Guard personnel American people of Italian descent Federal Hill, Providence, Rhode Island 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics