Ava DuVernay Prepares Documentary on 14th Amendment for Netflix

NEW YORK (AP) — Filmmaker Ava DuVernay has announced the creation of a documentary for Netflix, focusing on the 14th Amendment. This amendment granted freedom and legal rights to formerly enslaved people after the Civil War and has faced legal challenges from former President Donald Trump.

Netflix confirmed that “14th” will premiere later this year. This release marks DuVernay’s return to nonfiction filmmaking, following her works “Selma” and “Origin.” The documentary serves as a continuation of her 2016 film “13th,” which examined the legacy of the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery.

The 14th Amendment has been a significant target of Trump.

On the first day of his second term, he issued an executive order dramatically restricting birthright citizenship, which the amendment protects. In June, the Supreme Court overturned Trump’s order with a 6-3 vote.

Ratified in 1868 during Reconstruction, 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 constitutional amendment nullified the 1857 Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, which had ruled that descendants of enslaved people could not be citizens.

DuVernay noted her film will detail how the 14th Amendment became “a perpetual argument.” It will feature input from politicians, historians, and cultural voices.

“If ‘13th’ questioned who ends up behind bars, then ‘14th’ asks who counts,” DuVernay stated in a release.“This isn’t a film about past liberty. I’m not interested in asking you to look back. The film questions the nature of the country being crafted beneath us now.”

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing on behalf of the court, affirmed the amendment’s protections. It grants citizenship to anyone born in the country, with very limited exceptions.

“Citizenship, then and now, represented the right to all other rights,” Roberts wrote, “allowing free participation in our political community. The 14th Amendment’s architects extended this promise to ‘every person born free in this land,’ and today we uphold that promise.”

Trump announced he intends to challenge the Supreme Court’s ruling again. After the decision, he posted on Truth Social: “This judicial error will destroy America unless their absolutely insane decision is reversed.”