Adrian Wyllie pleaded "not guilty" this morning in a Pinellas County courthouse regarding his citation last month for driving without a license outside the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa. The Florida Libertarian gubernatorial candidate has previously stated that he's been striving for the past three years to be arrested on that charge, since it now gives him legal standing to challenge the constitutionality of the state's 2008 adoption of the REAL ID Act, a 2005 federal law which requires residents seeking a driver’s license or identification card to have their photo digitally captured. Wyllie says that photo is a biometric face scan, which is stored in a database managed by Homeland Security, which he thinks is a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Wyllie also objects to the fact that the law requires certified documents to explain any name change — such as marriage or divorce — regardless of how long the person has been licensed. "We're forced to waive our First Amendment rights for the 'privilege' of getting a driver's license," he said this morning.
Wyllie qualified earlier this week to officially be on the ballot this November in the governor's race by paying the fee required after raising $8,000 in the three days prior to this Monday.
The Palm Harbor resident was in Miami last month appearing at a March Against Monsanto rally. He says he's been involved with the local group for "quite some time," but says he personally doesn't want to get rid of all genetically modified ingredients — but he is strongly in support of a labeling law that would compel corporations to list all of the ingredients in their products. "I sincerely believe people deserve to know what they're consuming," he says.