HARRISBURG — A state appeals court has upheld the conviction of a former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice on corruption charges but has softened the terms of her mandatory apology.

A Superior Court panel Thursday said Joan Orie Melvin still must write apologies to every state judge but doesn't have to do it on a photograph of herself in handcuffs as first ordered.

The court said the photo requirement was an “unorthodox gimmick” designed to “shame and humiliate” the ex-judge.

Melvin was convicted of theft, conspiracy and other charges in 2013 for using her court staff and other public employees to aid her campaign for state Supreme Court. Her sentence includes three years of house arrest, a fine and work in a soup kitchen.

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania appellate court judges have added their voice to lower court decisions saying that certain state mandatory minimum sentencing laws are unconstitutional under a U.S. Supreme Court case decided last year.Wednesday's Superior Court ruling came three weeks before Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices are scheduled to hear arguments on more than 20 similar cases on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia.Fueling the raft of cases is Alleyne v. United States, a 2013 high court decision that found that juries, not judges, should decide whether a defendant committed crimes that trigger a mandatory minimum sentence.However, Pennsylvania law says a jury decides a person's guilt or innocence of the underlying crime, such as drug possession or robbery. A judge then uses a lower standard of proof to decide whether the mandatory sentencing “triggers” were proved — such as being in a school zone when drug dealing or brandishing a gun during the robbery.The Superior Court panel's unanimous decision came in the case of James Newman, who was convicted in Montgomery County in 2012 in a drug case.