Ava DuVernay has announced a documentary for Netflix titled 14th that examines the 14th Amendment. This amendment granted freedom and rights to former slaves after the Civil War. It has recently faced legal challenges from former President Donald Trump.
Netflix plans to release 14th later this year. DuVernay returns to nonfiction filmmaking with this project, following her previous works like Selma and Origin. Her 2016 film 13th explored the legacy of the 13th Amendment, which ended slavery.
The 14th Amendment became a focus for Trump, who attempted to restrict birthright citizenship through an executive order at the start of his second term. In June, the Supreme Court overturned this order in a 6-3 vote. Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment declares, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” This overturned the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision from 1857, which stated descendants of enslaved people couldn’t be citizens.
DuVernay aims to illustrate how the 14th Amendment remains a continuous debate. She will feature insights from politicians, historians, and cultural commentators. DuVernay stated, “If ’13th’ asked who gets caged, then ’14th’ asks who gets counted.” She emphasized the film’s focus on the present and the evolving American narrative.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court, asserting the amendment’s protections, confirming citizenship for anyone born in the country with minimal exceptions. Roberts remarked, “Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land.’ We keep that promise today.”
Trump remains critical of the Supreme Court’s decision. Post-ruling, he commented on Truth Social, “This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision.”