Matthew Carrington often wore the color red in support of his favorite football team, the San Francisco 49ers.
And now, after Carrington's death during a hazing ritual, Carrington's friends and family are wearing red in support of an anti-hazing law they say could have saved his life.
In February 2005, Carrington, who was a 21-year-old Chico State student, died during a fraternity hazing ritual where he drank from a 5-gallon jug of water and did calisthenics throughout the night, police said.
More than a year later, Carrington's family members are preparing for committee hearings for an anti-hazing bill they wrote after Carrington's death.
Some of Carrington's family and friends will be in Sacramento Tuesday wearing Carrington's signature color to show their support for Matt's Law while the California Public Safety Committee votes whether to approve the bill.
If passed by each committee in the California State Legislature and approved by the governor, Matt's Law will make hazing a misdemeanor even if the hazing doesn't injure anyone. The law would also make it illegal for anyone to haze, not just students.
Carrington's mother Debbie Smith said she hopes about 100 people show up wearing red in support of the bill. A large turnout would show people care about Matt's Law, she said.
Jim Moon, vice president for student affairs at Chico State, is trying to arrange his schedule to attend the hearing, he said in an e-mail.
Smith thinks people should support Matt's Law because it would decrease hazing by scaring people with the threat of punishment, she said.
"It's just trying to shake them and say, 'This is wrong, and if you continue, something bad's going to happen to you,'" she said.
If the fraternity men who were charged with hazing Carrington hadn't pleaded guilty, they would have gotten off without punishment because the organization wasn't university recognized, Smith said. That's something she wants the committee to realize.
But Smith isn't sure the bill will get past the first committee, she said.
"Every time we go in, there's a chance it might not make it, even though I believe with my whole heart it should," she said.
Although there is no known opposition to the law, Smith assumes there will be, she said.
But Smith thinks it's unreasonable for people to oppose a law that could save lives, she said.
"Let's not torture our children anymore. Let's not humiliate them anymore. Let's not kill any of them," she said. "Why would you fight something like that?"
California Senator Tom Torlakson is supporting the bill. Torlakson's communication director Tom Martinez said that as the bill moves through the legislative process, more support and more opposition will arise. But they still have faith in the bill.
"We wouldn't take this measure up if we weren't serious about seeing it through," Martinez said.
Smith said she realizes she has to rally as much support as possible while the bill is going through the legislative process.
And she has succeeded in getting hundreds of people to write letters to the California Senate in support of Matt's Law.
Although Smith works, she has made Matt's Law her second job, she said.
"I do it at work. I do it after work. I do it at night. I do it on the weekends," she said.
Even if the law is passed, Smith's work won't be done. She will educate people about the law if it's passed. But she realizes the best way to teach people is for someone to be arrested for hazing.
"The sad thing is it has to happen," she said. "Someone needs to be prosecuted."
If the law is passed and someone becomes an example of the consequences of hazing, Carrington's death will have amounted to something positive, Smith said.
"It means that something good came out of Matt's death, and he's going to save lives," she said. "I knew he was meant for something good."
Jennifer Scholtes can be reached at
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