D. C. Protest

assigned to the Mayday protest. Metropolitan police have now returned to 12 shifts in effect since Monday.

Embassy Rally

Efforts by demonstrators to continue the protests yesterday morning with a rally at the South Vietnamese embassy and a march to police headquarters collapsed when the several hundred protesters who appeared were overwhelmingly outnumbered by the police.

Robert L. Ackerly, a former Federal prosecutor, and the American Civil Liberties Union have called for the formation of a special jury to consider whether the Constitutional rights of those arrested were violated. Ackerly said he was "shocked and sorely distressed that the police can, with impunity, sweep the streets and then receive the support of the courts, which not only set high bonds but practically eliminate the effectiveness of habeas corpus."

Assistant Attorney General William H. Rehnquist defended the mass arrest procedures, saying the situation on Monday was one of "qualified martial law."

Unhealthy Conditions

A motion by the D. C. Public Health Association calling for all prisoners arrested in the Capitol Building to be released because of what it called "highly contagious diseases" among those being held was rejected Wednesday night.

The Health Association said that it knew of cases of hepatitis and salmonella diarrhea, and suspected the possibility of scarlet fever.

Superior Court Judge Alfred Burka, who rejected the motion, said the conditions cited by the group no longer existed.

The Department of Justice is seeking indictments against 24 Mayday organizers, Deputy Attorney General R. chard G. Kleindienst announced Wednesday. Three "Chicago Eight" defendants, Rennie Davis, John Froines. and Abbie Hoffman, are expected to be among these indicted. If they are indicted, a grand jury will be impaneled later this month to probe charges of conspiracy, plotting a riot, and other Federal crimes.

Preliminary Hearing

A preliminary hearing for Davis and Froines, who were arrested earlier this week, is scheduled for May 12. Davis said yesterday that he did not know who would defend them, but that they would have a joint defense.

Davis told reporters yesterday that Mayday leaders would meet this weekend to decide the format for a national antiwar conference "some time in the next several weeks." The conference, which will probably take place in Milwaukee, Wise, will make plans for continued resistance against the government until the war is over, Davis said.