The Rhode Island Convention Center will open at 3 p.m. Thursday for anyone wishing to pay their respects after the death of Frank Caprio Sr., widely known as America’s “nicest judge.”

Judge Frank Caprio, who handed down compassion from the bench on the local television series “Caught in Providence,” earning himself and the show national attention, has died. He was 88. On Aug. 20, a post on his official Facebook page confirmed that Caprio “passed away peacefully” following a “long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.