Derek Fenton, a 39-year-old man who held a state job with New Jersey Transit, has been fired after he was caught on camera burning pages of the Koran during a protest outside of Park 51, the future site of a proposed Islamic center in New York City.
Fenton was not on the job, nor in uniform while he took part in the protest. NJTransit holds that Fenton breached its code of ethics and "his trust as a state employee."
Experts have suggested that although many may oppose Fenton's actions, NJTransit violated his First Amendment rights.
First Amendment aside, Fenton's actions are reprehensible. The question of whether he should have been fired, however, is a separate issue.
Historically, book burning is legally protected as a freedom of expression under the provisions of the First Amendment. Protesters have been allowed to burn everything from The Catcher in the Rye to the Bible. However politically incorrect it may be, even burning the American flag is fair game.
If Fenton had worked for a company in the private sector, his firing would not be controversial at all. The fact that he held a state job is what makes things problematic. The idea of the government firing its own employee over a freedom of expression debate does not go over well with many.
Government workers can be fired for such offenses if their actions compromise the government's ability to do its job. For example, if a police officer is caught sending out racist and derogatory e-mails, he cannot be trusted to avoid profiling, and the public will not trust him to protect all people in an objective manner.
But Fenton was an assistant train coordinator. He worked behind the scenes and made sure trains arrived and departed at the correct times. It would be tough for NJTransit to make the case that keeping Fenton around would endanger anyone.
Making a public display of burning a peaceful and sacred text is intolerable. But Fenton's First Amendment rights were clearly violated, and once people start getting fired for such offenses, the question of where to draw the line becomes even harder to answer.
Fenton shouldn't have been fired. Many other penalty options could have been used including suspension or reassignment.
Fenton's superiors may need to meet with him, go over what is expected of him in the future and even help him to understand the repercussions of his actions. Firing him doesn't do anything to help themselves, Fenton, or the people he offended.
Between the proposed Islamic center, the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and the changes in the wars in the Middle East, the past months have painfully exposed a tenuous relationship between Muslims and many non-Muslim Americans. Fenton's actions only added fuel to the fire, causing many to look past the intent of the First Amendment.
