Tony Detroit,
Your response sounds a little angry, which I do not think is desevered. Reality differs drastically from what a person likes to imagine, our justice system is no different.
No, I am not blind (that would be Justice who is blind) and yes, I have been involved in the legal system, as a defendant, and a plaintiff, and as a member of the judiciary. I am an attorney (general-counsel of a software company), although not a litigator, and I worked for the Federal District Court - a civil and criminal trial court.
If you would like to see a bad legal system, well I can suggest some countries you should go and see. They would not send you a letter if they thought you were wrong, but rather you would be dragged from your house in the middle of the night and have electrodes attached to various points in your body until you "admitted" your guilt. This happens in many countries frequently...so I guess when you call our legal system "bad" it is all relative.
As for cash. You do not "need" it. Anyone is entitled to defend themselves in a court of law, in both a criminal or civil action. If it is criminal, then you need no money as "an attorney will be provided for you by the State". If it is a civil action, then show up and see what happens...but understand even if you don't get an attorney it costs money...preparing pleadings, court costs, filing costs, copies, time off to show up, etc, etc. Justice is not cheap.
Also, the plaintiff's here followed some proper methods and sent two letters asking for a response etc. I am guessing that the letters were not replied to...which is not necessarily the best approach. The person was also on an FBI list (I am sure that was a mistake, but it is a decent basis for naming someone in suit). Ignoring demand letters and being on an FBI list would make me a little wary as well.
but back to the money, as that is what you seem concerned about. I understand that $50k is a lot of money...I am well aware of that. I also agree that people should not have to plead guilty to things they did not do. But our legal system, if you choose to take advantage of it, is designed to make sure that you do not have to, "let 100 guilty men go free before you imprison one innocent man" and all that. But sometimes it is not worth the trouble...principles cost money. Justice is always a trade off, and if you expect a perfect world where justice is served to everyone for free...then I would suggest that you might be being a tad naive.
As for me, I make no money from litigation. Actually I spend a lot of money defending my company against frivilous suits. Even though, I still would say this is the best legal system around.
JMO.
Stewart