The other federal case is in Florida, where Trump was accused of violating federal law in his handling of classified documents. Judge Aileen Cannon ruled the special counsel’s appointment unconstitutional, and that ruling is now before the federal appeals court.

Trump’s strategy was to delay these federal cases as long as possible and it worked. Once he takes office, he has the authority to order the Justice Department to dismiss the allegations. It seems wrong to allow a president to shield himself from criminal liability in this way, but there seems little doubt that he will have that power upon taking office. In fact, Smith, who is in charge of these prosecutions, is planning roll below your work knowing that the cases will be dismissed.

The fate of the criminal cases in state courts against Trump is more complicated. A jury in New York Trump convicted of 34 felonies by authorizing money to be paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their sexual relationship and then falsifying business records to hide this so as not to harm his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has no authority to order the dismissal of the state prosecution and cannot grant a pardon for state court convictions.

Trump faces a possible prison sentence for these crimes. Each of the 34 convictions carries a possible prison sentence of four years, up to a maximum of 20 years in prison. But it is inconceivable that the Supreme Court would allow the imprisonment of a sitting president and allow a state court conviction to thwart the will of the people in the election. In essence, the Supreme Court is likely to say that Trump’s election as president trumps a state’s ability to order his imprisonment.

Another state court case is pending. against Trump in Georgia for his alleged attempts to subvert election results there in 2020. The matter is now pending before the Georgia Court of Appeals to hear Trump’s argument that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified. But regardless of the outcome of that appeal, there remains the unresolved question of whether a sitting president can be criminally prosecuted. Even if Georgia courts and the Supreme Court allowed prosecution, Trump would likely not face the possibility of imprisonment.

Although Trump is likely to escape criminal punishment, his presidency will not shield him from civil liability. Jurors found Trump responsible for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll and defaming her for it. The damages in these cases total more than 88 million dollars. Additionally, a New York state court judge found that Trump and his company repeatedly engaged in fraudulent business practices and fined him $450 million. An appeal was recently heard in this case.

The law is clear that a president has no immunity from civil liability for conduct unrelated to actions taken as president. In Clinton v. Jones in 1997, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Bill Clinton could be sued for sexual harassment that allegedly occurred when he was governor of Arkansas. The court said even a sitting president could be civilly sued for conduct that occurred before he took office. Neither E. Jean Carroll’s civil lawsuits nor the corporate fraud action have the slightest relationship to Trump’s conduct while president.

The core of the rule of law is that no one, not even the president, should be above the law. However, the effect of electing Trump is that he will not face potential punishment even for the crimes for which he has been convicted.

Erwin Chemerinsky is dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.