PITTSBURGH — Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin’s campaign corruption conviction, sentence and court-ordered apology should all be upheld by a state appeals court, prosecutors argued in a Superior Court filing today.

And if the apology — which Melvin was ordered to mail to every judge in the state on copies of pictures of her in handcuffs — is overturned, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. contends the entire sentence should be vacated and Melvin resentenced, which could possibly land her a prison term rather than house arrest.

“If this Court finds the apology letters to be unconstitutional, then the case needs to be remanded to the trial court for resentencing because the sentencing scheme would be drastically disrupted,” the prosecutors argued.

Melvin’s attorneys declined to comment on the 109-page brief, which responded to 15 defense arguments Melvin’s attorneys filed in December, seeking to overturn Melvin’s conviction, sentence or both.