Raineri v. United States

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

The federal courts historically have been solicitous of the rights of pro se litigants. E.g., Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972) (per curiam); Prou v. United States, 199 F.3d 37, 42 (1st Cir.1999). As part and parcel of that solicitude, courts frequently have recharacterized inartfully drawn pleadings to assist pro se prisoners who mistakenly relied on inappropriate rules or statutes. The enactment of the Antiter-rorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996) (codified in scattered…