Being a judge is a big responsibility. People come to judges seeking them to settle disputes and restore the balance of society in a variety of ways. In the series Caught In Providence, we get an insider’s view of real municipal cases and sentencings, often overseen by the popular Judge Frank Caprio.
People seem to love Judge Caprio’s wise mind, kind heart, and an unbeatable sense of humor. He loves kids and often chats with them during their parents’ court appearances. We have written about a few of these occasions here and here.
Although Judge Caprio goes out of his way to make the courtroom a positive atmosphere, the following heartbreaking Caught in Providence clip demonstrates that sometimes this isn’t always possible.
In the clip, we are introduced to Andrea, a mother who has had a more horrific year than we can likely ever imagine.
Andrea is in court for a slew of parking tickets, with some dating to more than 10 years ago. Judge Caprio goes easy on her; sentencing her to pay only $50 in fines for these older instances.
But when they move on to the topic of Andrea’s most recent parking violations, she slowly reveals a story that is heart-wrenching enough to bring even the toughest person to tears.
Andrea begins by explaining the earliest recent ticket. She only manages to say a few words before the tears begin to fall, explaining:
“I went to Social Security because they had cut my check. My son was recently killed last year, so they cut my check because he owed money […] I had to go to Social Security to fix that matter. When I came out, I had a ticket.”
It turns out Social Security had been holding her check as a result of a $75 overpayment they claimed her son had received when he was already deceased— but it quickly gets worse for the mother.
Likely as a result of her held checks, Andrea then had to go to eviction court against her landlord.
Here, she received yet another ticket.
She explains:
“I was in court because my landlord was trying to evict me… Come out, I’ve got a ticket. Mind you, he won possession of the apartment, so I had to move.”
Andrea sought-out legal aid services to help her with these issues. But, her luck just kept getting worse.
“I tried to go to the legal services to try to get help to fix this. I go get some change out of Dunkin Donuts. I come out, I’ve got a hundred dollar ticket. It’s like I can’t win,” the distressed woman cries to Judge Caprio.
It’s easy to see from the look on the judge’s face that he feels for the poor mother who has been struggling through such obstacles after being forced to bury her son.
He decides to lower Andrea’s fines down to a total of $50, asking her when she could pay and if that would leave her without money. Andrea says she is able to pay it today, and the amount would leave her with $5 left in her pocket.
She thanks Judge Caprio, getting ready to leave the courtroom but is shocked when he tells her that, instead, she does not have to pay anything.
“The horrific story you told relative your son. I don’t think anyone in their lifetime would want to experience that […] I’m not going to leave you with $5. I’m going to dismiss everything. Thank you.”
Andrea’s heart-wrenching story has been viewed over 527,000 times on YouTube.
Be sure to watch the full version below.
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