Major Contributions by Thinkers:-Emily Durkheim- Durkheims’ social theory of law as a representationof our societies collective conscience and as shifting fromrepressive(oppressive, punishing) law in simple societies torestitutive(creating, restorative) law in complex societies was found tobe quite wrong.There is no such shift, there are both repressive andrestitutive laws found in complex and simple societies, and law is lessan indicator of moral consensus and more of an object of contestation.However, Durkheim did call our attention to the importance of moralorders- people are drawn together by more than simply theirintersecting interests and “the sacred” which inspires a sense of aweand an aura of mystery when making law an indicator of our moralorder. Durkheim also contributed a theory of crime and punishment, inwhich punishment is a mechanism for showing the collectiveconscience exists and maintaining solidarity. He further posits thatcrime is normal, societies cannot function without it and thatpunishment is expressive and ritualistic and can only fulfill its functionwhen observed by members of a society.-Robert Cover- Cover asked the question “What is the relationshipbetween legal interpretation and legal enforcement” and found that theinterpretation of law always has violent consequences. He believesthat we have separated understanding what ought to be done andcarrying out what “ought to be done” through violence. He believesthat we’ve been using our interpretations of law to give organizedexistence to violent behavior and that the law can never escapeviolence.-Gerald Rosenberg- a subscriber to the constrained views on theSupreme Courts ability to produce social change, Rosenberg believedthat the courts were neither necessary nor sufficient in the process ofimplementing social change.-Patricia Ewick&Susan Silbey- identified the three legal schema and
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