      *  following is true:
      * 
      *  - If verticalAlign is "middle" then y is set so that the element's preferred
-     *  height is centered within the contentHeight:
-     *      y = (contentHeight - layoutElementHeight) * 0.5
+     *  height is centered within the larget of the contentHeight and the target's height:
+     *      y = (Math.max(contentHeight, target.height) - layoutElementHeight) * 0.5
      * 
      *  - If verticalAlign is "bottom" the y is set so that the element's bottom
      *  edge is aligned with the the bottom edge of the content:
-     *      y = (contentHeight - layoutElementHeight)
+     *      y = (Math.max(contentHeight, target.height) - layoutElementHeight)
      * 
      *  Implementation note: unless verticalAlign is either "justify" or 
      *  "top", the layout elements' y or height depends on the contentHeight.

        if (llv.minorSize != contentHeight)
        {
            contentHeight = llv.minorSize;
            if ((verticalAlign != VerticalAlign.TOP) && (verticalAlign != VerticalAlign.JUSTIFY))
            {
                for (index = startIndex; index <= endIndex; index++)
                {
                    elt = layoutTarget.getLayoutElementAt(index);
                    h = calculateElementHeight(elt, targetHeight, contentHeight);
                    y = calculateElementY(elt, h, contentHeight);
                    elt.setLayoutBoundsPosition(elt.getLayoutBoundsX(), y);
                    elt.setLayoutBoundsSize(elt.getLayoutBoundsWidth(), h);
                }

        // If verticalAlign is top, we don't need to figure out the contentHeight.
        // Otherwise the contentHeight is used to position the element and even size 
        // the element if it's "contentJustify" or "justify".
        var containerHeight:Number = targetHeight;
        
        
        // TODO: in the middle or bottom case, we end up calculating percentHeight 
