By Michael Fisch
law briefs
Judge Frank Caprio, JD ’65, HLLD ’91, received a 2022 Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program for the second year in a row. All legal shows (including those on social networks) are eligible, but only four programs, including Caprio’s Caught in Providence, made the cut. While Caprio, who is Chief Municipal Judge in Providence, Rhode Island, didn’t win this year, he did present Emmy Award statuettes in three categories.
Episodes of Caught in Providence, which use real footage from Caprio’s courtroom, have been viewed more than a billion times, both in syndication and worldwide on YouTube and Facebook. Your teenager, if you have one, may know him from TikTok, where he is a well-known figure. The Providence Journal calls him “beloved.”
One explanation for Caprio’s popularity is that he listens closely to the life stories of defendants, many of whom appear in his court because they can’t afford to pay the fines associated with their traffic offenses. He often reduces or eliminates the fines of sincere people who need a break the most. That willingness—sometimes—to forgive a transgression has made him a social media star and well-deserving of his award-show honors.
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Photograph Courtesy of Judge Frank Caprio
winter 2023
