Political Quotes

“I thank Senator Reed, and I am very cognizant of the honor of having the chance to reflect on Judge Frank Caprio, who was indeed, as Senator Reed has said, a Rhode Island legend. Judge Caprio was Rhode Island through and through. He was born on Federal Hill, an iconic Italian-American neighborhood in Providence. He started helping his milkman father about age 10. A lot of the apartments there were three-decker tenements. Somebody had to run the milk bottles up to that third floor. An energetic 10-year-old was just the one to do it. He went on to study in Providence's public schools and, to earn money, served as a dishwasher and a shoeshiner while he was a student. He graduated and went on to Providence College, the first in his family of dozens of cousins to attend college. And, of course, he graduated. And then he went back to teach at Hope High School to give back to the Providence school system that had lifted him up and taught him so well. He also served in Rhode Island's Army National Guard for years. Eventually, he became a lawyer. It wasn't easy. He had to work. So he had to take night classes up in Boston, and Providence to Boston for night classes is a considerable effort. He became a Providence city councilman, and, ultimately, he became chief judge of the Providence Municipal Court, chief judge for 38 years.”