WASHINGTON (AFP) — The conservative-dominated United States Supreme Court, after quashing abortion access, begins a new term Monday which could bring setbacks to the rights of African Americans and gay couples.

Anti-discrimination laws, voting rights and immigration are among the hot topics on the docket for the nation's highest court.

David Cole, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the last term "saw the court aggressively exercising its newfound conservative power to upend long established precedents."

"This term, the court appears ready to do so again," Cole said. "The court is not likely to act modestly or at least is not inclined to act modestly."

In June, the court struck down the landmark 1973 ruling guaranteeing a constitutional right to abortion, expanded public carry rights for gun owners and curbed the powers of the government agency responsible for environmental protection.

The rulings were welcomed in conservative circles which have accused the court in recent years of engaging in judicial activism when it comes to major social issues.

Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the conservative Manhattan Institute think tank, said the court is reversing what he called the excesses of the 1970s.

Shapiro said he expects the court to take aim next at affirmative action policies which allow universities to take race into account in their admissions practices.

The court is to hear arguments on the use of race in deciding who gets to attend Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.

Another closely watched case, which will be heard by the court on Tuesday, involves the seven congressional districts in the southern state of Alabama and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which aims to prevent discrimination against African Americans at the polls.

The civil rights legislation allows for the creation of Black-dominated districts to ensure they have representation in Congress.

But it is illegal to restrict their voting power by concentrating Black voters in a single district or by splitting them into multiple districts.