I know the tragic circumstances of the 6-year-old refugee Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez has raised a firestorm of ethical issues concerning parental rights, emigration law and international manners. Fidel Castro, the U.S. Congress and a Florida judge, even the boy's two grandmothers are apparently joined in a battle that is terribly upsetting to the boy, and can easily be avoided.

Years ago, two women who lived together-but not like that kind of living together-came to me in my judicial capacity to seek resolution of a similar situation. Each claimed the other's newborn had died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and that the other woman had stolen the living baby to raise as her own.

A horrible case, extremely difficult to untangle, but at least there were no lawyers involved to "muddy the waters" of wisdom. I took out my old Masonic sword, took the proper three-point stance over the child, and said I was gonna chop the kid right in twain. Then I awarded custody to the woman who wailed the loudest.

But modern times require a modern solution. Luckily, that has been provided by DNA research. With a little gene slicing, splicing and dicing, doctors could clone the little Cuban boy, with plenty to go around for Fidel, Ms. Reno and both groups of battling family members--even for members of Congress who have shown an interest.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said, "I just think it's not a cut and dried issue."

But as you can see, it really is.

Sol Davidson, former ruler of Israel