Novels by Jack London, like “The Call of The Wild,” have long been staples of American curricula, but a New Jersey teacher used a nonfiction work attributed to the author to give a lesson, and a federal judge got it.

U.S. District Judge Peter Sheridan in Trenton ruled last week that history teacher Robert Cowan can pursue a claim that his constitutional rights were violated when he was suspended for placing copies of “The Scab,” a pro-union essay attributed to London, in three colleagues’ mailboxes at Carteret High School in 2008.