Commonsense Choices from Uncommon Voices:Rethinking America’s Correctional Policies brings together the experiences of men who served time in prison with contemporary research on correctional policy. This work combines a voyeuristic desire to observe “evil” and the consequences of the system of punishment, with detached consideration of what those stories can tell us about who we are as a nation and how we treat those who have betrayed the social trust. The authors simultaneously examine first-person accounts of inmate experiences with the correctional system and what actually, works, in operation, to promote the rehabilitative and restorative models of justice so many of our policymakers espouse. Each chapter opens with a vignette, a recollection of an event or series of events, about an inmate’s experience during the various phases of correctional processing. These first-hand accounts have been collected from men who served time in prison. These men’s stories are examined in their own right, then extrapolated to a broader analysis of the underlying social and policy issues to which that vignette speaks. All chapters follow the same structure: (a) opening vignette about a former inmate; (b) analysis, which includes (i) identification of the underlying issue; (ii) reflection; and (iii) extrapolation to a larger policy issue; and (c) recommendations from the field for enacting practice and crafting policy more responsive to the identified issue.

Oklahoma, or "Okla Homma," is a Choctaw word meaning "Red People." In this collection, acclaimed storyteller Tim Tingle tells the stories of his people, the Choctaw People, the Okla Homma. For years, Tim has collected stories of the old folks, weaving traditional lore with stories from everyday life. Walking the Choctaw Road is a mixture of myth stories, historical accounts passed from generation to generation, and stories of Choctaw people living their lives in the here and now. The Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers selected Tim as "Contemporary Storyteller Of The Year" for 2001, and in 2002, Tim was the featured storyteller at the National Storyteller Festival in Jonesboro, Tennessee. Tim Tingle lives in Canyon Lake, Texas.