Just days before his death, Chi Tau pledge Matthew Carrington told his mother that he wanted the fraternity's hazing rituals to be over.
Now his parents aim to end hazing altogether by creating a bill in their son's name.
Matthew Carrington's hazing was cut short when he died of water intoxication Feb. 2 after drinking repeatedly from a five-gallon bottle of water and doing calisthenics in the frigid basement of the Chi Tau house, police said.
Debbie Smith, her husband, Greg Smith, and Matthew Carrington's father, Michael, intend to stop hazing for everyone, not just students, they said. To accomplish this goal, they're trying to pass a bill called Matt's Law.
"It will be illegal to haze, period," Debbie Smith said. "It's just wrong, and it's got to be stopped."
Currently, the punishment for hazing is a misdemeanor under California's anti-hazing law, according to a letter from Alex Grab, the family's attorney.
Matt's Law would make hazing part of the penal code instead of the educational code, so it would be punishable as a felony if injury or death occurred. If hazing puts someone at risk of being injured, the punishment would be a misdemeanor, according to Grab's letter.
Debbie Smith said she thinks the fear of punishment will make people think twice about hazing.
But punishing isn't enough, she said.
The second part of Matt's Law prohibits all people, not just students, from hazing, she said.
According to Grab's letter, this change prevents unaffiliated fraternities from arguing they can't be punished for hazing because they're not student organizations.
Although it's named for Matthew Carrington, Matt's Law aims to protect all students, Michael Carrington said.
Debbie Smith agrees the bill isn't just for her son.
"There are a lot of kids out there that need to be saved," she said.
Michael Carrington hopes the law will become part of the penal code, he said.
"You get a different set of laws applied to you," he said.
Getting Matt's Law passed will take about one year because it could face hearings, amendments and compromises before being signed by the governor, District Attorney Mike Ramsey said.
But Michael Carrington and Debbie and Greg Smith aren't wasting time.
Their attorney found a legislator who might be interested in carrying the bill. Sen. Tom Torlakson of Antioch is considering presenting the idea of Matt's Law to the legislature in February, Grab said.
Torlakson will evaluate the proposal during the next few months and figure out how to address it, determine who will support or oppose it and talk to attorneys and university administrators, said Robert Oakes, Torlakson's press secretary.
"We're just at the beginning," Oakes said. "Obviously it's a steep hurdle."
Torlakson wants to continue evaluating the proposal and will confirm his support for Matt's Law by the third week in February, Oakes said.
Debbie Smith wants Matt's Law to be voted on in September 2006. Her family and friends plan to campaign to get it passed, she said.
The campaign may involve letters and phone calls to state legislators.
Debbie Smith swears she will get the bill passed.
"I will not stop," she said. "I have to do it for Matt. And I think he'll give me the strength to do it."
Lauren Brooks can be reached at
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