Caught in Providence is a YouTube channel where the cases of real people when in a trial, are recorded for the masses to see. The YouTube channel showcases snippets from the arraignments of real people when they have their cases heard in the Municipal Court of Justice in Providence. The show uses no actors and real people are filmed during the actual trial.
The reason this show has gained so much viewership throughout the past few years on YouTube is that, although there are some petty cases like parking tickets and speeding cases, sometimes the act may have happened because of an emergency or might just have been a harmless mistake. All these YouTube videos have gained more than 1 million YouTube views, thanks to interesting content and the marketing strategy of the owners. Many marketing companies have helped channels on YouTube to increase video views and reach a worldwide audience. You can easily buy YouTube views and subscribers to gain popularity on YouTube easily, trial service starts from $1 for many famous YouTube marketing companies.
The courts, as conventional wisdom tells us, don’t consider these feelings and only acts on evidence. If there is a shot of you running a red light, you have to pay the fine, or face the consequences. But Judge Caprio in Court in Providence tv show has been seen to pardon these mistakes, if you will, time and again. Why? Is it because he wants to be an entertainer and a star in the eyes of people? No. He strictly believes that the power of the sovereign is disproportionate to a great deal as opposed to the power of an individual. And as a representative of the sovereign, he is ever mindful not to exercise his prowess unfairly and always tries to be considerate to the individuals. Because the fact is, not every one of us can pay hundreds of dollars worth of fines, and especially in a city like Providence, where nearly thirty percent of the people are living below the poverty line. Still, they have to own a car, or else, navigating the city for essentials would be next to impossible.
Judge Caprio and the birth of Caught in Providence
The show’s host, Judge Frank Caprio, is from the Italian American neighborhood of Federal Hill, Providence in Rhode Island. His mother was of Italian American origin and resided in the state of Providence, while his father was from Teano, Italy, and worked as a fruit peddler and milkman. Caprio had attended schooling in Providence and got his Bachelor of Arts degree from Providence College. He loved the law and pursued the field at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. From where he got his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree or the Juris Doctor degree. He attended night school as he was also teaching at the same time at the Hope High School in Providence, Rhode Island. The judge was also station as a National Guard at Camp Varnum and Fort Indiantown Gap in Narragansett and Pennsylvania respectively. Although this was still 1960 and before he was elected to the Providence City council in the year 1962. He served there till 1968.
Later, in the year 1975, he was elected as a Delegate to the Rhode Island Constitutional Convention. After which, he has been elected as a Delegate for as many as five Democratic National Conventions. He was the chairman of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, which is the center of all major decisions that are taken for the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College, and The Community College of Rhode Island. He did all this in just ten years and from the year 1985, he has been serving as a Municipal Court Judge in Providence, Rhode Island. The proceedings of the court were aired on local television for commoners to see, and this went on for more than two decades. Ultimately, in the year 2018, the television show, Caught in Providence syndicated their rights nationally and it gave birth to Caught in Providence season 1 and the YouTube channel that we all love today. The show was much loved by the audience and was renewed for a second season of nation syndication in 2017, January.
The proceedings of the court
In the Municipal Court in Providence, judge Frank Capiro, handles traffic violations, parking tickets, and different arraignments for criminal offenses. Find more about what he does on caught in providence.com, their official website. The show has managed to gain the attention of people caught in providence season 1 episode 1, where judge Caprio shows that he does not wear a badge under his judicial robe, but has a heart full of humbleness and honesty.
As a matter of fact, people are bound to make mistakes, especially when they drive. You might think it would still be yellow but the light changed just before you crossed the stop line. Or you might end up parking in the wrong space because you missed the sign. Moreover, moving violations can amount up to as much as thousands of dollars. And if you miss the due date of paying the fines, arrest warrants may be issued. Sometimes all it takes is a ticket to throw a family into financial insolvency. But the argument is there that the street is filled with dangerous drivers, and to stop them from causing accidents the best method is to revoke their license to drive. But, in the US, this rarely works. This is because there is no way around using a car to navigate around the city. With inadequate public transit, dangerous drivers are bound to get behind a wheel because getting pulled over for a suspended license seems much less a threat when compared to losing all your income or being unable to buy the necessities for survival. This can only be solved through common-sense public transportation all around the country. If people are given the chance to not own a car, I’m sure many of them would be really happy and would be able to save big on expenses. Furthermore, with realistic alternatives to driving, drivers who are considered dangerous for the road, would not have to drive and removing them would be effective at last.
A Straight-A Confession
On 17th February 2021, Judge Caprio held the trial of a student studying in Roger Wiliams school in Providence, who had a red light violation on Eddie and Dudley street. Judge, as charming as always helps the student calm herself and talks about her courses. The student continued that she had gotten four straight-A’s in her courses and the judges were quite stoked to hear about it. She was a student of engineering and mathematics and had excelled in calculus, physics, biology, and writing algebra. Caught in providence judge Caprio thought she had taken a right turn after running the red light because most people would. But, as the trial progresses, she said that they were traveling at some speed and when she saw the yellow light, she sped up even more. If they had happened to stop then, she would have ended up in the middle of the intersecting roads and it would have been a hard stop. The judges joked that she failed to correctly calculate the time to stop and should have factored in the weight of the vehicle and the speed they were going in. Caught in providence Inspector Quinn, also stated that she might be pardoned for this mistake as there was only one car coming down the driveway. Not that it is an excuse for running a red light, it is still a violation of the law, but in this case because the risk of an accident was not there, she might be pardoned. Before leaving she said that she will work out the math for when they had to stop and Rhode island judge Frank Caprio dismissed her with a smile.
Saved by a smile
On 25th February 2021, Judge Caprio had a student before him with a parking ticket. She had her car towed because of the ticket and had come to the court hoping that the judge would give her a break and she would not have to pay the ticket. When asked about it, she said that she had paid the tow company in full, because they would not listen to her even when she said she was a student and poor. She said that she had heard it was going to snow and she only parked there because it was an emergency. The company towed her car around 4 a.m. and she came to plead her case to the judge. The judges asked if she had dropped courses or not, when they got the answer yes, Judge Caprio assumed she might have money left over from the refund of the courses. Carrie Hopkins, the accused, said she had already paid tuition from the money she got and she does not have any leftovers. Although it would be hard for her to pay for the ticket, if she has to, she will pay nevertheless. Judge Caprio similar to several caught in providence episodes, pardoned the ticket and let her go. Along with the judge, many of us throughout the video seemed to have the doubt that Carrie was guilty and she should have paid the fine. But, judge Caprio explains at the end of the video that after seeing and interrogating so many criminals and people in general, he could also pick up those tells. But she gave a genuine smile at the end which neither the judge nor the viewers can deny. This is the reason he let her go, a smile saved the day.
Insisting on justice
On 17th January 2021, the municipal court in Providence had Joanne, with five red light violations which she never knew about, apparently. She said she had the knowledge of only one. She had violations on Allens Avenue and Terminal Street and when the judge asked to see the video feed, she straight up declared that she didn’t want to waste the court’s time and said that she is guilty. Judge Caprio asked for a second time and she again stopped him saying it is a waste of time and she did not want everyone in the courtroom to see her run a red light. However, the video feed was played and because she had passed one of the three-stop lines when the light was yellow, she par pardoned for the first two cases. The judge asked if she still didn’t want to see the videos, she laughed and said she wanted to see all of them. Among all five, three of her cases were pardoned because she had under half a second of red light time before running it and was charged for only one. She even got a rebate from her fine and also a month’s time to pay it because she was unable to produce such an amount of money in a moment’s time.
Judge Caprio in caught in providence has been the star of the show and that too unwillingly, his utmost goal is to remove the disproportionality between the power of the sovereign against the power of an individual. As to the answer of what channel is caught in providence? This is where you will find everything about them.
