Listening Justice: Active Listening in Judge Frank Caprio’s Judicial Communication

Abstract

This study examines active listening as a communicative process that shapes the interactional tone of courtroom discourse, focusing on Judge Frank Caprio in the television series Caught in Providence. Using the Active–Empathic Listening Scale (AELS) and the Active Listening Observation Scale (ALOS), the research systematically analyzes how Caprio’s listening behaviors structure judicial interaction. Twenty courtroom episodes representing diverse emotional and situational contexts were transcribed and coded to assess verbal and nonverbal indicators of listening, including paraphrasing, empathic acknowledgments, clarifying questions, and responsive humor. The AELS framework was employed to evaluate internal dimensions of listening - sensing, processing, and responding - while the ALOS captured observable behaviors such as eye contact, prosody, and supportive feedback. Qualitative discourse analysis, supplemented by quantitative rating averages, revealed that Caprio’s communication demonstrates consistently high levels of active-empathic engagement, with adaptability across affective contexts. Inter-rater reliability, measured using Cohen’s kappa, confirmed coder agreement. Findings indicate that Caprio’s courtroom talk operates active listening as a discursive and institutional practice, where empathic responsiveness humanizes authority and enhances perceptions of fairness. The study concludes that active listening, as measured through AELS and ALOS, embodies a communicative enactment of responsiveness, clarity, and respect in judicial settings.