joan orie melvin

Ex-Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, center, leaves Pittsburgh Municipal Court after a 2012 hearing.

(AP Photo | Keith Srakocic)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Superior Court panel has blocked a requirement that a former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice convicted of corruption write letters of apology to other judges in the state.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Wednesday that the three-judge panel issued the stay on grounds that the apology letters might be used as evidence against former Justice Joan Orie Melvin if her pending appeal results in a new trial.

Melvin was convicted in February on charges that she used her state-paid staff to do campaign work.

Allegheny County Judge Lester Nauhaus sentenced her to house arrest, probation and a requirement that Melvin mail every judge in the state a signed apology written on a photograph of her in handcuffs.