In upholding 'three strikes' laws the Supreme Court has allowed states to abandon rehabilitation as a sentencing goal.

California law authorizes severe sentences upon a third conviction, even for minor offenses, for persons previously convicted of two or more serious or violent crimes. The law was enacted by 1994 ballot initiative after the kidnap-murder of Polly Klaas, 12, bye Richard Davis.

Dissenter Stephen G. Breyer scoffed at the idea that the Constitution governs disproportionate bail and fines, but not prison terms. He delivered a long and impassioned denunciation of the ruling in the courtroom yesterday for himself and the three others: Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Lawrence Goldman, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, attacked the court's decisions, which he said reinforced "the unhealthy abandonment of rehabilitation" as a criminal justice goal.

"If we are going to discard the hope for rehabilitation, we should do so explicitly and rename every state "Department of Corrections" the "Department of Punishment," said Mr. Goldman, a New York lawyer.

We'll be discussing this on MSNBC at 3:00 pm EST.