Opinion

ACLU gets one right

The American Civil Liberties Union’s New Jersey affiliate did its historic mission proud last week — standing tall for free, if problematic, speech.

The chapter last fall took up the case of Derek Fenton, a New Jersey Transit worker fired for burning pages of the Koran during a September protest against the proposed Ground Zero mosque.

Fenton acted on his own time, with no suggestion whatsoever that he was connected with NJTransit.

He was within his rights, in other words.

The state completely caved on Friday: In a settlement, Fenton will get back his $86,110-a-year job, plus back pay and $25,000 for pain and suffering (whatever that means in this case).

The state also has to pay the ACLU’s $25,000 in legal fees.

Fine.

He never should have been canned.

Plus the usually common-sensical Gov. Chris Christie, never should have said: “I knew he was going to be fired, and I had no problem with it.”

Burning holy books is wrong.

So is abusing the First Amendment.

As we noted at the time, if the supreme law of the land permits flag burning, it can also allow burning of sacred texts.

Kudos to the ACLU for focusing on a core constitutional issue — rather than the favorite left-wing cause of the day.

Enjoy this rare moment.

It won’t last long.