Supreme Court adds affirmative action to its potential hit list

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to revisit the question of affirmative action in higher education, deciding to hear a case challenging Harvard and the University of North Carolina's use of race in college admissions.

With the court already having heard arguments this term on abortion and guns, the affirmative action case marks yet another politically charged issue that threatens to uproot decades of legal doctrine. Arguments in the pair of cases will likely be heard in the court's new term, which begins in October.

The court will consider more than just...