A Judge Surprised a Dad by Letting His Five-Year-Old Choose His Punishment
Having to go to court to deal with a parking ticket is not a fun way to spend the morning, but needing to bring along your five-year-old son certainly doesn’t make it any better. Luckily for the parent in question, the judge presiding over his traffic violation was ready to hand out more than just justice. The judge decided to get the little boy in on the action, and actually let the boy decide on his father’s punishment.
Five-year-old Jacob accompanied his dad to the Providence Municipal Court in Rhode Island, because his dad had to deal with a parking ticket. After spotting the little boy in his courtroom, the judge, 80-year-old Frank Caprio, asked if he’d like to come up and sit on his lap.
After getting to know the little boy (Jacob wants to be a “pizza cook” when he grows up), Judge Caprio got down to business. “I’m having trouble with this case, because I have a situation where your dad is charged with parking on a street up on the east side, and I have three choices,” he explained to Jacob and the rest of the courtroom. “I can fine him $90, I can charge him $30, or I can charge him with nothing.
“What do you think I should do?”
This is basically a dream come true for a kid: getting to decide on your parent’s punishment. My daughter would have been like, “I don’t think these choices are adequate, she should go to jail.” Luckily for this dad, Jacob is fair.
After pondering it for a moment, Jacob announced that he thought his dad should be charged $30, which cracked up everyone in the courtroom.
Jude Caprio praised the boy’s fairness, then made a deal with the father/son pair. “The deal is that if he’ll take you out for breakfast, then I’ll dismiss the ticket.” The judge instructed Jacob to order lots of food since his dad was saving $30 on the traffic ticket. The boy’s reply?
“I love bacon.”
I love him.
Watch the whole adorable exchange below:
https://www.facebook.com/uniladmag/videos/2790032981019743/
(Image: Facebook / @Uniladmag)
