Harvard Affirmative Action, Gay Rights Next Up at Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court reshaped the legal landscape in dramatic ways in the past few months, and it may just be getting started.

When its next nine-month term begins in October, the nation’s highest court is scheduled to hear arguments on the use of race in college admissions, on the intersection of free speech and gay rights and on a challenge to an environmental permitting law.

In the blockbuster court year that ended Thursday, conservative justices used their 6-3 majority to strike down federal abortion rights, remove some limits on gun permits, curb federal regulatory power and blur ...