Bill Clinton at the party convention in Chicago: The former president, who signed a tough crime-fighting law in 1994, speaks to the softened party

The Democrats' 1994 crime bill is once again in the spotlight as its sponsors, President Biden and former President Clinton, take the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week.

Three decades ago, when Biden was a U.S. Senator for Delaware, he wrote the Act to Combat Violent Crime and Prosecute Criminal Offenses, Clinton signed this law with the intention of cracking down on illegal drugs and violent crime.

Critics say it led to mass incarceration because it allowed life sentences for non-violent drug offenders and enforced the so-called “three strikes” rule for felons. Biden has since called the legislation a “mistake.”

Biden and Clinton “wanted us to enact really tough crime policies, which makes sense, but it was not a fair policy,” Gianno Caldwell, a Fox News political analyst and founder of the Gianno Caldwell Institute for Public Safety, told Fox News Digital. Cadlwell's 18-year-old brother Christian was shot and killed in a Chicago shooting in 2022. No suspects have been named in connection with his murder.

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“A lot of people end up in prison for crack cocaine. And we're not just talking about selling it, we're talking about using it. And people who used powder cocaine or regular cocaine were released. They weren't put in the same circumstances as the predominantly black people who were using crack cocaine at the time,” Caldwell explained. “… The Democrats didn't care at all. They just wanted to make sure certain people went to prison.”

Alice Johnson, the woman Kim Kardashian helped free after Johnson was sentenced to life in prison for cocaine trafficking in Memphis in 1997, was directly affected by the 1994 law. Former President Trump eventually granted Johnson a pardon in 2018.

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In 1994, then-President Clinton signed then-Senator Joe Biden’s Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP)

Cadlwell said he was a supporter of tough laws against crime, especially when it came to violent offenders.

“The Clintons and the Bidens have a history of refusing to look in the mirror and see that they caused much of the chaos we are seeing in our country today,” Caldwell added.

“The Clintons and the Bidens have a history of refusing to look in the mirror and see that they caused much of the chaos we see in our country today.”

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In recent years, Democrats have become generally more lenient toward crime. Their policies and proposals include banning foot pursuits in several Democratic-controlled cities and states, converting certain felonies to misdemeanors, eliminating cash bail, abolishing the death penalty, and, famously, calls for cuts in police funding.

Progressive district attorneys backed by billionaire George Soros have also pushed for early releases and bail reform. The Minnesota Freedom Fund, which helps felons post bail, received support from Vice President Harris after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, but later released a convicted criminal who was later charged with murder.

Joe Biden authored the 1994 criminal law when he was a Democratic senator representing the state of Delaware. (Roll Call via Getty Images)

Former President Trump, who not only supported law enforcement generally but also made law and order a top priority during his four years in office, criticized the 1994 law during a roundtable discussion Sunday in Detroit at the predominantly black 180 Church as his campaign touted a new coalition of black voters.

“Look, crime is at its highest here and in the African-American communities,” Trump said in Detroit on Saturday. “More and more people are seeing me and saying, 'Sir, we want protection. We want the police to protect us. We don't want to be robbed and assaulted and beaten or killed just because we want to cross the street to buy a loaf of bread.'”

Both Hillary and Bill Clinton are listed as speakers at the DNC in Chicago this week. (Dirck Halstead)

The former president pointed out that Biden wrote the crime bill.

“[H]”He's walking around now talking about the black vote. He's the king of the 'super predators,'” Trump said during the event.

Now the law is back in the spotlight as its strongest supporters gather in one of the nation's most crime-ridden cities.

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Gianno Caldwell and his brother Christian in their last photo together. (Fox News Digital)

Chicago had one of its worst years for violent crime in 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic, with the murder rate hitting a 25-year high. Homicides have declined since then, but are still higher than before 2020. According to Chicago police, 2021 ended with 797 Murders – the highest number since 1996.

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“I can't think of a better place than Chicago to highlight the failures of the Democrats. Chicago has some of the most comprehensive gun control laws anywhere. It's still a violent city. Immigrant crime. The education system in Chicago, Illinois, is in shambles. You can think of any number of issues that the Democrats have championed and said was the right path for the country,” Caldwell said. “You can use it as a microcosm … because a lot of those same measures were passed in Chicago and you see how they're doing.”

“You can use it as a microcosm … because many of these same policies were passed in Chicago and you see the impact they have.”

Caldwell added that he loves Chicago's “beautiful” downtown, but “even in a beautiful city, the greatest potential lies in the cemeteries.”