Woman facing $2,000 fine from TSA over jar of apple butter
When a TSA agent pulls something out of your carry-on bag and tells you that you can't take it on your flight, you can argue, you can make your angriest face or you can stomp through the security checkpoint and post a super mean tweet about it. What you can't do is to shrug it off and try to sneak that same item past a second TSA agent. Mary Hostein learned that lesson the hard, expensive way after attempting to take a jar of apple butter on a flight from Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
In January 2013, Hostein, 63, was stopped by a TSA agent who told her that no, she couldn't take a pint-sized jar of every Southerner's second or third favorite biscuit spread in her carry-on bag, as the jar contained more than three ounces of liquid or gel. She said she left the screening area and then — believing that her apple butter wasn't really in violation of the rules — she attempted to go through a second checkpoint, where she was stopped by a different agent. She was forced to leave the apple butter behind and assumed that her problems would stay in the airport trashcan.
She was wrong. A month later, Hostein received a letter from the TSA telling her that she was under investigation due to her "efforts to circumvent security." In compliance with the letter, she responded with her side of the story. In June 2014, she got another letter from the agency, which ordered her to pay a $2,000 fine (the equivalent of 222 jars of McCutcheon's Old Fashioned Apple Butter). Hostein told WOODTV that she has unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate, but has been told that she either needs to start making payments or face additional fines. She said:
"I think they’ve treated me like I’m a criminal. I’m a nobody fighting a government agency that I feel is being relentless."
On the TSA's "Can I Bring?" website, it says that apple butter is a Check Only item.
In a statement to Road Warrior Voices, TSA spokesperson Mike England said:
"Ms. Hostein went through screening and a prohibited item (apple butter in a quantity larger than permitted) was detected. When told that she could not bring the apple butter into the sterile area, but that she could put it in checked baggage, give it to someone who was not flying, or surrender it, Ms. Hostein told TSA personnel that she didn’t intend to relinquish the item and told them that she would get the prohibited item through another checkpoint. Ms. Hostein left the checkpoint and then attempted to re-enter the sterile area by a different checkpoint with the prohibited item, and was caught again. After this second attempt, she voluntarily surrendered the prohibited item.
After Ms. Holstein’s attempt to circumvent TSA’s screening security procedures, TSA followed its normal processes for civil violations. First, TSA attempted to informally resolve this matter. She was offered a settlement for an amount considerably less than the proposed civil penalty of $2,000. She did not agree to this offer. We were not able to reach informal resolution. In accordance with TSA’s procedures, an order was issued to Ms. Hostein assessing a fine."