The Supreme Court decision that a State may impose the death penalty in certain crimes has only caused more problems than it has resolved. The Court has yet to determine which crimes can constitutionally be punished with death and has begun to entertain doubts as to whether the methods used to impose the death penalty have sufficient substance to provide any guide to a jury's discretion in choosing either life imprisonment or the death penalty. As a statute adopted before a definitive solution to these difficulties has been reached, South Dakota's death penalty suffers from many possible flaws. Until these uncertainties are removed, no attempt should be made to take a life under the statute. Moreover, the difficulties inherent in drafting a constitutionally acceptable statute cast considerable doubt on the ultimate propriety of a death penalty, and even whether the effort required is within human capabilities. Thus, judgments of death and life should be left to an authority of higher competence than a legislative body. A total of 95 footnotes are included. (Author summary modified)