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Monday 8:30am - 5pm Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm Thursday 8:30am - 5pm Friday 8:30am - 5pm

South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center

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South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, 1518 Washington Street, Columbia, SC.

South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center is a forceful and respected advocate for low-income South Carolinians on issues such as housing, education, hunger, public benefits, domestic violence, immigration, healthcare, and consumer issues. SC Appleseed is dedicated to advocacy for low-income South Carolinians and to effecting systemic change by acting in and through the courts, legislature, ad

ministrative agencies, community and the media, and helping others do the same through education, training and co-counseling.

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El centro de Justicia Legal Appleseed de Carolina del Sur ha sido un defensor respetado y fuerte para la gente de Carolina del Sur de bajo ingreso en asuntos como alojamiento, educación, el hambre, beneficios públicos, violencia doméstica, inmigración, el seguro médico, y asuntos del consumador. SC Appleseed se dedica a la defensa de la gente de Carolina del Sur de bajo ingreso y afectar cambio sistemático por actuando en y por las cortes, la legislatura, agencias administrativas, la comunidad y las noticias, y ayudando a los demás hacer lo mismo por educación, entretenimiento, y co-asesoramiento.

08/26/2026

We are excited to kick off the Fall School year by introducing our law clerk, Jonathan Valladares Rivera! Jonathan joined us over the summer and will be working with us through the fall semester.

Jonathan is a third-year law student at the USC Joseph F. Rice School of Law where he is a board member for Pro Bono and the Latino Law Student Association. He graduated from the University of South Carolina with a B.A. in Political Science and two minors, History and Law & Society Interdisc. He is a native of Managua, Nicaragua but grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. Jonathan is interested in working on legal issues that impact his local community and using his Spanish-language fluency to assist those who need it most.

Jonathan helped tackle some education projects with our Deputy Director Jennifer Rainville over the summer and will continue playing a role in helping shape some of our work going into the Fall.

08/25/2026

Our Story Collection Organizer Shatari Dunmore joined members of the NAACP Myrtle Beach Branch #5568 this past weekend for their outreach and voter education event. She shared about our healthcare story collection efforts and information on current healthcare and SNAP benefits issues happening in the state.

Thanks to the NAACP Myrtle Beach Branch and St Elizabeth Missionary Baptist Church for hosting the event!

08/24/2026

We have our next Special Education Advocate Training date scheduled for Allendale on September 11th!

This free in-person training will help participants gain practical knowledge of federal and state special education law, the IEP process, and effective advocacy strategies, with a focus on supporting families who need it most.

Space is limited. Register today to secure a spot: bit.ly/EdAdvocateTrainingAllendale

Allendale Training Information
Date: September 11, 2026
Time: 9:30AM - 4:30PM
Location: Simpson United Methodist Church
800 Flat St. Allendale, SC 29810
Space limited Register here: bit.ly/EdAdvocateTrainingAllendale

08/20/2026

We’d like to extend a big thank you to everyone who attended the Special Education Advocate Training in Charleston last week! We had a terrific group and enjoyed spending the day discussing the ins-and-outs of working through the training. We are also grateful to the Keith Summey North Charleston Library for the wonderful meeting space.

Our team is working on a few more trainings in the coming weeks. We hope to have more details soon.

08/19/2026

We are thrilled to introduce Chris Truluck, as our new Litigator at SC Appleseed!

Chris is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer who has practiced in the courts of South Carolina for the better part of the last two decades and the federal courts since 2015 with a focus on criminal defense and civil rights violations. He is passionate about governmental accountability and creating systemic change through litigation.

Since 2008, he has been successful in trying criminal and civil cases in South Carolina, arguing before the South Carolina Supreme Court, litigating in the South Carolina District Court and arguing before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Many of those cases involved unlawful searches, seizures, or other constitutional violations of the rights of South Carolina’s citizens.

Chris is excited to join the SC Appleseed team to focus on identifying, and litigating, issues with the aim of improving the lives of low-income South Carolinians.

Welcome to the team, Chris!

Adam Protheroe, our longtime Litigation Attorney, will be moving forward as our Energy Policy Attorney and play a key role in expanding our work in the energy justice space. We are excited about our work ahead in both arenas!

08/18/2026

We firmly oppose the Dominion-NextEra merger.

We believe the proposed $67 billion acquisition of Dominion Energy by Florida-based NextEra Energy is a bad deal for South Carolina ratepayers. That is why we have intervened at the Public Service Commission to make sure that low-income customers have their interests protected.

If approved, this merger would create the largest private, regulated electric utility in the country, and place immense power in a company that seems more focused on maximizing profits than providing affordable, clean, and reliable energy to its customers.

NextEra announced this takeover effort weeks after Dominion was approved to raise its rates, right after Dominion was allowed to start building a $5 billion gas plant in Colleton County, and within days of the scheduled end of the legislative session. They’ve also asked for, and gotten, a fast-tracked schedule for the review of this takeover that makes it hard for South Carolinians to make sure that our interests are protected.

We're especially concerned because NextEra is not treating its current customers well. In 2024, Florida Power& Light (FPL), which NextEra owns, cut off power to its customers at over twice the rate that Dominion did in South Carolina and nearly four and a half times the rate of Duke Energy Carolinas (which serves the upstate). The following year, FPL pushed the Florida Public Service Commission to approve an $8.9 billion rate increase. They ultimately got an historic $6.9 billion rate increase that raised FPL's return on equity (profit) to 10.95 percent, higher than Dominion's and every other utility in the continental U.S. Even as customers struggle to keep up, NextEra banked more than $5 billion in profit last year and compensated its CEO nearly $25 million.

To accomplish this takeover, they’ve offered customers about a $10/month reduction in their energy bill, which that stops after two years. That doesn’t even offset Dominion’s $12/month rate increase that just took effect and gives us no protection against future rate increases.

As proposed, we believe the merger is not built to benefit South Carolina customers. Based on our review of the proposal and NextEra’s track record, we are deeply concerned this merger only stands to increase disconnections, worsen rising energy prices, and create one of the nation’s most powerful monopolies.

That’s why we oppose the merger and why we’re working to bring up these important issues before the Public Service Commission, before it’s too late. We invite all South Carolinians to stand with us, and we hope legislators will step up to protect South Carolina customers as well.

08/17/2026

We're excited to share that Senator Gerald Malloy has been selected by the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center's Board of Directors as our 2026 Advocate of the Year!

Senator Malloy will be honored with the Rev. Sen. Clementa C. Pinckney Award for Justice at a special reception beginning at 5:30PM on Thursday, October 22, 2026 celebrating his impact on justice and opportunity in South Carolina.

During his time in the legislature, Senator Malloy championed numerous issues that have long mattered to SC Appleseed, including criminal legal and juvenile justice reform, expungement expansion, hate crimes protections, and much more. A close friend of the late Senator Clementa Pinckney, his career reflects a lasting commitment to justice for South Carolinians.

We invite you to save the date to ensure you do not miss this exciting and special evening. We look forward to celebrating the incredible impact of Senator Gerald Malloy with you.

Ticket sales, sponsorship opportunities, and more details to come soon!

08/14/2026

Our Deputy Director Jennifer Rainville presented on education law with a wonderful group of future social workers at the USC School of Medicine - Center for Disability Resources trainee orientation this week! Thanks to the Center for the invite. ❤️

📸: photo provided by the Center.

08/12/2026

On Tuesday, our Deputy Director Jennifer Rainville and Law Clerk Elizabeth Buckner had the opportunity to share our Special Education Advocacy Training with members of the Family Connection of South Carolina team! Thank you to everyone who participated for a great day and thanks to Family Connections for having us!

08/05/2026

Last week our Founder/Director of Policy Sue Berkowitz joined a special panel discussion in Orangeburg hosted by the National Domestic Workesr Alliance and Care in Action. She spoke about the major healthcare challenges that state is currently facing and the steps needed to change course.

There are still many changes ahead that will greatly impact families across the state. Many immigrant families here legally will be facing Medicaid and CHIP restrictions starting this October. There will be more ACA and Medicaid changes going into 2026 as well. More details here: https://www.scjustice.org/immigration-healthcare-changes/

We’ll be updating on all of these changes as they come.

Address

1518 Washington Street
Columbia, SC
29201

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 5pm
Thursday	8:30am - 5pm
Friday	8:30am - 5pm

Telephone

+18038886100

Website

http://www.scjustice.org/

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