Judge shares how he learned from his first mistake and his father's life-changing advice in court

Everyone makes mistakes but the point is, how much one has learned from their mistakes. Judge Frank Caprio, who has been serving as a Chief Judge of the Municipal Court of Providence on Rhode Island for 38 years, has learned a lot from his share of mistakes that he had made when he first acted as a judge at the court. His court proceedings were telecasted in "Caught in Providence" and people widely know him as "the judge with a big heart" on the internet.

He once sat down for an interview which was posted on his personal YouTube channel where he looked back at the first mistake as a judge and the lesson his father gave him after that. The interviewer asked him if he could share about any particular case that still makes him think about it to this date. "I get upset thinking about it. I felt crumbled at that moment," Caprio said in that video. "I have never forgotten about that till this day. For 38 years I still think about that case."

It was Caprio's first day on the bench. "I asked my dad, who was the most decent man I had ever met in my life to come down and view me," Caprio recalled about asking his father to watch him as a judge on his first day. "A woman came before me, she had 3 kids and she owed maybe $300 worth of parking tickets." The woman flat-out confessed that she can't pay that sum of money because she doesn't have it. Caprio suggested that he can put her on some payment program to pay off her parking fines but she still claimed that none of that is going to help her to pay the amount.

Caprio warned her that she had to pay the amount or her car was going to get "booted." After the court session was over, he asked his father how did he perform as a judge. But his dad was not pleased and he proceeded to give him a life-changing heart-to-heart talk which changed the course of his career as a judge. His father mentioned how Caprio should have noticed that the woman was scared and Caprio being the judge should have heard out her problems related to the difficulties in paying the $300. "You can't treat people like that, Frank," he still memorized his father's words and ever since then, Caprio never acted the same again.

The clip was reposted on Reddit by u/PresentationNo712 where it got much more appreciation from the community for his acts as a judge. u/badhooks1 wrote: "I have 2 autistic children. They have taught me to slow my role with the general public. I have learned, that not everyone thinks at the same speed and shows concern the same way I do. Sometimes I may think, that person is so rude. If you take a moment to observe, something may help you realize, something more is going on." u/Potatoe999900 commented: "It all makes sense now. I wish his attitude was a virus that would spread across the world. He is the role model we all need."

u/YoullBeFiiine added: "Crazy how all it took was one comment for his dad to shape the rest of his career in a profession that can drastically alter peoples’ lives. If his dad had told him “you did great son! I’m so proud of what you’ve accomplished, I have to imagine he might have never become the reasonable and empathetic judge that we need more of in our justice system." u/gkfjfjxhd mentioned: "He’s currently going through some health struggles, you guys should go and support him on his YouTube channel Frank Caprio, I’m sure he would appreciate all of you." It's safe to say that judges like Caprio are capable of restoring our faith in the law system.