Remote patrol

The producers of the Oscar-winning documentary "The Farm" take us inside the fences of Louisiana's correctional system for a fourth time at 9 tonight on A&E's "Investigative Reports." This time it is to meet some of the inmates at the state's only maximum-security prison for women. You may recall similar recent treatments on Court TV and "Nightline." What's striking about the prison featured tonight is that it appears to be less cut off from the outside world than a men's prison. That's probably because many of the inmates have borne children and have a natural urge to be connected with them and to see them do right despite their own failings. The result is an odd nurturing process partly conducted inside the living object lesson of prison. Children make regular visits to their inmate moms and even attend a Christmas party thrown inside the prison. The party ends, inevitably, on a bitter note. >>>