Washington, D.C. ? Six years after the Supreme Court came to the aid of the Boy Scouts of America when it held that a state cannot force a private group to include openly gay men if doing so would violate its professed code of conduct, the organization is suffering the consequences of the ruling.

In a setback for the Boy Scouts, the Supreme Court turned away a free-speech challenge to a policy in Berkeley, Calif., that denied city-subsidized dock space to a scouting group because it excludes gays and atheists.

The court’s action lets stand rulings that have said cities, schools and colleges may deny public benefits to groups that refuse to comply with broad nondiscrimination rules involving religion and sex orientation.

The court’s action sets no legal precedent, however, and the justices could take up the issue again.