Chief U.S. District Judge Wiley Y. Daniel has asked the U.S. Senate to expedite a vote on filling a Colorado federal court vacancy, saying a shortage of judges is impeding the public’s access to justice.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Daniel cited an 18-month history of trouble in the court keeping up with caseloads. He asked the two to put aside partisanship and allow a vote on the nomination of Denver lawyer William Martinez.

“I believe it is in the best interest of the court, and the public it serves, that the judicial nomination and appointment process proceed at a reasonable pace designed to yield qualified judges within a reasonable period of time,” Daniel wrote. “Reasonableness to me means that the two of you agree, without further delay to set a date certain for a vote on Mr. Martinez’s pending nomination.”

The letter, sent in May, did not work, as Martinez’s nomination has not been acted upon. Daniels’ letter was disclosed on the Senate floor Thursday by U.S. Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado.

There are five active judges on the federal court in Denver, where seven active judges should be serving. The Judicial Conference of the United States has suggested the court needs an additional judge, which would bring the vacancy count to three.

The Administrative Office of the Courts has designated the court a “judicial emergency court” because the two vacancies have existed more than 18 months and judges carry 593 cases each. Any District Court exceeding 430 cases per judge is considered in need of emergency judgeship assistance.

“Judicial understaffing has a real effect on residents and business,” Udall said. “It continues to become extremely difficult to schedule a trial as these backlogs go longer and longer.”

Nearly 100 federal judgeships across the country remain unfilled, and experts who study the judicial nomination process agree the Senate’s pace of confirmations is at its slowest in recent history.

Doug Kendall, president of the Constitutional Accountability Center, said the Senate has confirmed only 36 of President Barack Obama’s nominees.

At this same point in his tenure, 61 of President George W. Bush’s nominees had been confirmed.

Only two of Obama’s judicial nominees were confirmed within 100 days, and they were for Vermont and Alabama, Kendall said. Those are the home states for ranking Judiciary Committee members Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy and Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions.

Sessions denied there is a delay regarding Obama’s nominees and said the president’s candidates are moving faster toward confirmation than Bush’s nominees.

“If we ask for parity and consistency and fairness based on what was done to President Bush’s nominees, they would be held considerably longer,” he said, “and a lot of nominees would never get a hearing and would wait for years.”

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