Introduction

Michael Appleton for The New York Times

New Jersey Transit fired an employee last week for burning a Koran in Lower Manhattan on Sept. 11 in his off-duty hours. Whether public agencies can control or punish their employees for speech they engage in when they are not on the job has been a matter of dispute. For instance, a federal appellate court ruled in a 2002 case, Pappas v. Giuliani, that a New York City police officer could be fired for mailing racist material from his home. But in other cases, government employees have been protected in their free speech rights.

New Jersey Transit said the employee, Derek Fenton, had violated its code of ethics. Assuming he wasn't dismissed for other reasons, should he have been fired for his action? What are the First Amendment considerations here?