A Civil Action

E170567

feature film non-fiction book

A Civil Action is a 1995 non-fiction book by Jonathan Harr, later adapted into a film, that chronicles a landmark environmental pollution lawsuit in Woburn, Massachusetts.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
A Civil Action canonical	5
A Civil Action (film)	2
A Civil Action (book)	1
book "A Civil Action"	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1496385 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: A Civil Action
Context triple: [Aberjona River, mentionedIn, A Civil Action]

A. The Firm
The Firm was a 1990s American hip hop supergroup best known for its members Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature and their collaborative album "The Album."
B. The Verdict
The Verdict is a critically acclaimed 1982 courtroom drama film starring Paul Newman as a down-and-out lawyer seeking redemption through a medical malpractice case.
C. Presumed Innocent
Presumed Innocent is a 1990 legal thriller film, based on Scott Turow’s novel, about a prosecutor accused of murdering his colleague and former lover.
D. Frontiers of Justice
Frontiers of Justice is a philosophical work by Martha Nussbaum that extends theories of justice to address the rights and moral standing of people with disabilities, non-human animals, and citizens of other nations.
E. The Accused
The Accused is a 1988 American legal drama film that powerfully examines sexual assault and victim-blaming, featuring an Oscar-winning performance by Jodie Foster.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: A Civil Action
Target entity description: A Civil Action is a 1995 non-fiction book by Jonathan Harr, later adapted into a film, that chronicles a landmark environmental pollution lawsuit in Woburn, Massachusetts.

A. The Firm
The Firm was a 1990s American hip hop supergroup best known for its members Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature and their collaborative album "The Album."
B. The Verdict
The Verdict is a critically acclaimed 1982 courtroom drama film starring Paul Newman as a down-and-out lawyer seeking redemption through a medical malpractice case.
C. Presumed Innocent
Presumed Innocent is a 1990 legal thriller film, based on Scott Turow’s novel, about a prosecutor accused of murdering his colleague and former lover.
D. Frontiers of Justice
Frontiers of Justice is a philosophical work by Martha Nussbaum that extends theories of justice to address the rights and moral standing of people with disabilities, non-human animals, and citizens of other nations.
E. The Accused
The Accused is a 1988 American legal drama film that powerfully examines sexual assault and victim-blaming, featuring an Oscar-winning performance by Jodie Foster.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	feature film ⓘ non-fiction book ⓘ
adaptedAs	A Civil Action self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: A Civil Action (film)
author	Jonathan Harr ⓘ
awarded	National Book Critics Circle Award ⓘ surface form: National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction
awardYear	1995 ⓘ
basedOn	A Civil Action self-linksurface differs ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
director	Steven Zaillian ⓘ
focusesOn	alleged link between pollution and leukemia cases ⓘ civil lawsuit over groundwater contamination ⓘ trichloroethylene contamination ⓘ
genre	legal literature ⓘ non-fiction ⓘ true crime ⓘ
hasISBN	9780394563497 ⓘ
includedIn	environmental law reading lists ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
legalCaseInvolved	Anderson v. Cryovac ⓘ
literaryForm	narrative non-fiction ⓘ
mainCharacter	Jan Schlichtmann ⓘ
mediaType	print ⓘ
notableFor	detailed depiction of U.S. civil litigation process ⓘ influencing public awareness of environmental law ⓘ
placeOfPublication	New York City ⓘ
portrays	complexities of environmental litigation ⓘ corporate defendants accused of pollution ⓘ plaintiffs’ families in Woburn leukemia cluster ⓘ
publicationDate	1995 ⓘ
publisher	Random House ⓘ
releaseDate	1998 ⓘ
settingLocation	Woburn, Massachusetts ⓘ
starring	John Travolta ⓘ Robert Duvall ⓘ William H. Macy ⓘ
subject	Woburn, Massachusetts contamination case ⓘ environmental pollution ⓘ toxic tort litigation ⓘ
targetAudience	general adult readership ⓘ
theme	financial risks of contingency-fee litigation ⓘ limits of the legal system in addressing environmental harm ⓘ struggle between individuals and corporations ⓘ
timePeriodDescribed	1970s ⓘ 1980s ⓘ
usedAs	case study in environmental studies courses ⓘ case study in law schools ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (9)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Aberjona River → mentionedIn → A Civil Action ⓘ

Woburn, Massachusetts → featuredIn → A Civil Action ⓘ

this entity surface form: book "A Civil Action"

Steven Zaillian → directed → A Civil Action ⓘ

Sydney Pollack → actedIn → A Civil Action ⓘ

A Civil Action → adaptedAs → A Civil Action self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: A Civil Action (film)

A Civil Action → basedOn → A Civil Action self-linksurface differs ⓘ

subject surface form: A Civil Action (film)

Conrad Hall → notableWork → A Civil Action ⓘ

Woburn toxic waste contamination cases → chronicledIn → A Civil Action ⓘ

this entity surface form: A Civil Action (book)