JERUSALEM — What had been hailed as one of the wisest decisions of all time was declared null and void today, as a federal judge overturned King Solomon's verdict and ordered a baby from a recent maternity dispute to be cut in two.

People throughout Israel had praised the king for his shrewd judgment in the case, in which two women each claimed to be the baby boy's rightful mother. Solomon had wisely suggested that the woman who was more willing to give up her rights to the child than see him come to harm was the baby's true mother, but a federal judge ruled that the decision was not legal under Israel's constitution and that the baby must be chopped in half.

"The king has no authority to make this order," said Judge Ahithophel the Boasbergite. "Just because Solomon is king over all of I

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