If you elect not to be screened and want to leave the terminal your departure must be delayed until you are reunited with your checked baggage. Otherwise you have a situation where unlinked baggage is “traveling” without its human owner - an ideal way to create a serious problem.
Hold you in the screening area until you are reunited with your baggage and then the two of you leave - YES!
Allowing you to leave with out your checked baggage with or without a fine - NO.
Besides, since when has fines of any size prevented a crime?
90% of business travelers do not check baggage. So, if you refuse to be strip searched, you ought to be able to leave, since you will NOT be on any plane. The TSA is simply wrong, and it will take a few test cases to do this.
This type of statement is like one has entered a military base, past a sign which says all who enter are subject to a search of themselves and their auto. But the difference is that flying is a voluntary act of commerce. There is nothing in the transaction that says you are assumed to be a hazard to travel or other passengers.