This judge isn’t afraid to laugh a little at his job.
A Rhode Island woman named Sarah brought a parking ticket to Chief Judge Frank Caprio, of the Providence Municipal Court.
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She was fined for stopping her car two seconds before parking in that spot became legal.
Yes, really.
“Well, it was ridiculous,” Caprio told Inside Edition. “It was a matter of seconds, and we try to employ the rule of common sense.”
Sarah explained in the episode of Caught in Providence that the clock in her car said it was 10 a.m. when she tried to park in the spot that was a no parking zone from 8 to 10 a.m. The ticket she received, however, said she stopped in the parking spot at 9:59:58 a.m., two seconds shy of her being legally allowed to park there.
“That’s what her excuse was — that she drove up to the meter and she got there just one minute before she was allowed to park there. The parking enforcement officer got there within that 60 second period and placed the ticket on her vehicle,” Caprio said. “You know what? I believe her.”
Nevertheless, the judge gave her a hard time anyway, joking, “What does justice demand in this case? Is it jail?”
If the ticket had been paid within two weeks, it would have been $30. If it was paid within 28 days, it would have doubled. However, by the time Sarah was able to bring the ticket to court, she had already passed the grace period, now owing $90.
Caprio waived the fine.
“We’re not dealing with crimes of moral turpitude, we’re dealing with people who have never been to court in their lives. I’m trying to be fair and take into consideration the individual that’s before me,” he said.
Originally posted on Womanista.com.
