Attorneys for the speaker of the New York Assembly in a new court filing used the term “meritless” to describe a legal challenge to a state commission tasked with reviewing prosecutorial misconduct claims, but also said the court could preserve certain parts of the law even if others are struck down.

The lawyers also said the status of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, as the lone individual defendant in the suit, and the New York attorney general’s recusal, has no bearing on whether the law passes constitutional muster.