In the Matter of Elray and Jean Rash, Debtor. Associates Commercial Corporation v. Elray Rash and Jean E. Rash

JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge,

with whom REYNALDO G. GARZA, DUHÉ, BARKSDALE, EMILIO M. GARZA and DeMOSS, Circuit Judges, join, dissenting:

The majority dismantles 11 U.S.C. § 506(a) (1994) by combining a question-begging interpretation of the statute’s first sentence with an unreasonably restrictive reading of the second. Having thereby obscured the section’s plain meaning, the majority turns to an inapposite presumption, an incorrect economic analysis, and the last resort of judicial redrafting — selective reading of the legislative history. Not surprisingly, this policy-driven reconstruction…