Using the Law to Lift Up Lives

The Suffolk University community is mourning the passing of Judge Frank Caprio, Sr., JD ’65, HLLD ’91, whose televised demonstrations of courtroom compassion captured hearts and made him one of America’s most beloved judges. Judge Caprio passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 88.

A Providence Municipal Court judge for nearly four decades, he became a surprise international celebrity in 2017 when videos of his humor and kindness to citizens accused of traffic and parking violations went viral, and ultimately led to the syndicated TV show Caught in Providence.

The show delighted audiences around the world, who loved his witty banter, charm, and tendency toward forgiveness. The Rhode Island jurist was even known to bring children up to the bench to help decide fair consequences for their parents. But Judge Caprio’s generosity extended far beyond the cameras—he quietly helped thousands in his community who had fallen on hard times.

“He’s everything we hope our students can achieve,” Suffolk University Law School Dean Andrew Perlman told Providence television station WPRI. “He understood something really fundamental about the law. It’s not just words on a page, it affects people’s lives very deeply in important ways and he always brought that compassion to his work. He would say that he didn’t wear a badge under his robe, he wears his heart. That captures why we have such admiration for him.”

The child of Italian immigrants, Judge Caprio was raised in the working-class Federal Hill neighborhood of Providence and earned a bachelor’s degree from Providence College in 1958.

He credited Suffolk Law for making his legal career possible, allowing him to attend the evening program while working as a Providence high school teacher during the day.

“Suffolk provided me with the tools to change my life, allowed me to become an attorney, and to subsequently become appointed to the bench. If not for that, I would not have fulfilled my parents’ dream or my own dream,” he said in an interview with Suffolk Law Magazine in 2018.

When asked why his show, and his approach, had become so popular, Judge Caprio said he believed it was because many people around the world felt distrustful of government institutions. “I think we have given them a sense of hope,” he said.

His commitment to Suffolk Law never wavered, and in celebration of that devotion he received Suffolk Law’s Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award in 2023. To honor his late father, he established the Antonio “Tup” Caprio Scholarship Fund for Rhode Island students dedicated to serving underserved communities. Two of his children, Frank T. Caprio, JD ’91, and David Caprio, JD ’94, are also Suffolk Law graduates.

“Judge Caprio understood the power of compassion and decency,” said Suffolk University President Marisa Kelly. “He made it his life’s work to lift up lives, and in doing so, he inspired faith in the courts. We are proud to call him our own, and we mourn his passing.”