How have courts dealt with the issue of the statute of limitations in cases involving an incarcerated and self-represented plaintiff?

As one court explained, "A trial judge presiding over a case initiated by an incarcerated and self-represented plaintiff, particularly when there has been no appearance by any defendant, faces a significant challenge in balancing his or her obligations to facilitate the ability of the self-represented litigant to be fairly heard, on the one hand, and to refrain from assuming the role of advocate, on the other." (Holloway v. Quetel (2015) 242 Cal.App.4th 1425, 1434.) By raising the statute of limitations, the trial court was acting as an advocate, which it cannot do.