If you’ve been following Clutch Justice, you already know Tyler Foster, the sharp legal mind who joined us for a Clutch Q&A earlier this summer. Now, Foster is back in the headlines for taking on the City of Memphis in a landmark public records fight.
On July 28, 2025, Foster filed a petition in Shelby County Chancery Court accusing the city of violating the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA) by obstructing access to police disciplinary records.
Police disciplinary records are crucial not just to ensuring the public knows what kind of personnel and behavior they’re funding, but also in ensuring that they are upholding the law and constitutional rights in their daily work.
Foster says Memphis has repeatedly:
- Charged inflated, unauthorized fees (including $1 per page for electronic records).
- Ignored state-mandated labor cost limits.
- Marked requests as “fulfilled” while producing no documents.
- Conditioned access on city attorney approval, something not required under Tennessee law.
He’s asking the court to order Memphis to comply with TPRA, provide long-delayed disciplinary records, and overhaul its public records policies so residents and watchdogs can finally hold police accountable.
Why This Lawsuit Matters
It is no secret that the City of Memphis has a long, documented history of police misconduct.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently found widespread constitutional violations inside the Memphis Police Department, yet the city still resists transparency even after the state’s Office of Open Records Counsel reportedly told Memphis its practices break the law.
If Tyler’s lawsuit succeeds, it could:
- Stop cities from charging unlawful fees for public records.
- Force Memphis to honor the state’s “presumption of openness.”
- Empower journalists, families, and reform advocates with the information they need to expose misconduct.
As he wrote in his recent Daily Memphian op-ed:
“If the public can’t access records about police misconduct, how can we know whether misconduct is being addressed at all?”
The Daily Memphian – When Public Records Aren’t Public
A Fight Rooted in Experience
Foster’s advocacy isn’t academic. Once incarcerated himself, he taught law behind bars, later became a paralegal and organizer, and now studies at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. He’s also the co-founder of the Transformative Justice Initiative (TJI) and a board member of multiple reform-focused organizations.
This case is the next step in a career dedicated to making justice systems transparent and accountable. Clutch will be watching and cheering Tyler on.
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