MADISON (WKOW) -- A Dane County judge refused to issue a restraining order against the closing of the Occupy Madison encampment on the city's east side
Judge Amy Smith says while Occupy Madison protesters have first amendment rights they have no special rights to camp out at the location on the 800 block of East Washington Avenue.
Smith says Facebook and State Capitol protests are also available to Occupy Madison members and have been used.
Protesters have used the site for months to raise issues with Wall Street, banks and the lack of services for the homeless.
Madison police say Occupy residents have to clear out by noon on Tuesday. Officers say they don't expect any pushback.
"The group has been very compliant and they were, in fact, moving a lot of the belongings out today. So I don't foresee problems. The people that I've talked with over many months have all said they have no plans of being resistive, that they would leave," said Captain Carl Gloede.
Police say any residents who stick around could be cited for trespassing and any belongings that remain will be treated as abandoned property.
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MADISON (WKOW) -- People living at the "Occupy Madison" site on East Washington Avenue are getting ready to move out.
An April 30 eviction deadline was set for those living on the city property in mid-April.
"All the plastic tents are ones constructed by people on the site and then everything else kind of evolved from there," said Brent Nelson, who's been living in "Occupy Madison" since October.
Nelson said there are about 60 or 70 people residing within the hoop houses and tents sprawled across the area.
"I don't know what a lot of these people are going to do," Nelson said about the upcoming deadline.
Others are concerned as well. Friday, three attorneys filed an injunction and a motion for a temporary retraining order against city officials on behalf of three homeless individuals living on the site.
"It was to extend the period that they would be able to stay here until a suitable alternative was found," Attorney Patricia Hammel told 27 News. Hammel was one of the attorneys involved in the case, but withdrew herself Sunday because of a conflict of interest at her law firm.
"They have no place else to go," Hammel said. "This, to them, is a safe alternative to living on the street, living in parks, sleeping up at the Capitol," she continued.
Now, their future remains unclear. Hammel said after speaking with City Attorney's Office, she believes hoop houses will be able to stay up until Wednesday and no action will be taken to get people out of the site until a hearing Monday afternoon on the injunction.
