Opinion ID: 6330415
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Pro Se Litigants

Text: “Pleadings prepared by pro se litigants should be interpreted liberally.” Dupree v. Hiraga, 121 Hawai‘i 297, 314, 219 P.3d 1084, 1101 (2009). “The underpinnings of this tenet rest on the promotion of equal access to justice — a pro se litigant should not be prevented from proceeding on a pleading or letter to an agency if a reasonable, liberal construction of the document would permit him or her to do so.” Waltrip v. TS Enters., Inc., 140 Hawai‘i 226, 239, 398 P.3d 815, 828 (2016). 17  FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAI‘I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER