[thegagline]

but back in the 70's if a person was found innocent of a crime there was no follow up civil case to try and get some monetary compensation.

This is not the case in the United States where the burden of proof in a civil case is less than the burden in a criminal case.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Maybe I'm misremembering, but I just don't remember people going through the process of filing civil cases when the criminal cases failed to give them the results they wanted.