Some hot potatoes for high court

The Supreme Court, opening its 1982-83 term Monday, agreed to take up a number of controversial issues.

It will tackle the hot political topic of whether to permit tuition tax credits for parents whose children attend religious or other private schools. Opponents charge the Minnesota law is an unconstitutional mixing of government and religion, on grounds it primarily benefits parents of children attending nonpublic schools.

In other actions, the court refused to involve itself in the legal controversy over use of hypnosis by police and prosecutors to refresh the memory of crime witnesses. The justices left intact a California ruling that bans the courtroom testimony of witnesses who have been hypnotized.

And, dealing a blow to the Boston teachers union, the court refused to review court-ordered hiring quotas for black teachers that resulted in massive layoffs of white teachers.

One issue the justices decided not to reexamine is that of the Equal Rights Amendment. They declared it legally dead and refused to rule on questions it raised about the ratification process.

This term the court will also review a dispute over whether powerful veterans' organizations may use tax-deductible contributions for lobbying; whether Pennsylvania and New Jersey must repay the federal government $1.4 million in misspent educational funds; a dispute over Wyoming's 1981 legislative redistricting plan; whether cities have a constitutional duty to pay medical bills of suspected crimnals who are injured while fleeing from police; and a case involving the validity of lawful ceiling prices for ''first sales'' of natural gas set by the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978.

The court disqualified former Attorney General Richard Kleindienst, who resigned during the Watergate scandal, from practicing before the Supreme Court.