Folks at the San Francisco Hall of Justice are shaking their heads that political consultant Enrique Pearce will be allowed to avoid jail time after pleading guilty to possession of hundreds of images of child pornography — including graphic pictures of infants as young as 6 months old being abused.

In a move that went largely under the radar, retired Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Rene Navarro, who is on temporary assignment in San Francisco, signaled that he intends to sentence Pearce to just six months of home detention when he returns to court Wednesday.

Under sentencing guidelines, Pearce will probably serve only half that time.

Compare that with the fate of former KGO-AM talk show host Bernie Ward, the “Lion of the Left” who pleaded guilty in a similar child porn case brought by the U.S. attorney in 2007. Under federal guidelines, Ward was sentenced to seven years, and he served every day of it.

And just last week, Duane Ackerman, a professional photographer whom San Francisco police and the FBI arrested 15 months ago for possessing and producing child porn, was sentenced in federal court to 15 years in prison.

Pearce, whose political clients included Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisors Jane Kim and Norman Yee before his arrest in May 2015, will have to spend five years on probation and register as a sex offender for the rest of his life in addition to his brief home detention.

D.A.’s spokesman Max Szabo said prosecutors had pressed Judge Navarro for jail time in the Pearce case. But under state rules, they didn’t get a say-so in the plea deal — Pearce could simply admit to all four charges against him in court once Navarro told him what the likely sentence would be.

“Our hands are tied,” Szabo said.

Pearce’s attorney, Douglas Horngrad, declined to comment on the plea deal. So did the judge.

As for why the Pearce case didn’t land with the feds, where he would have faced mandatory prison sentencing guidelines? According to Steve Wagstaffe, district attorney in San Mateo County and president of the California District Attorneys Association, “The U.S. attorney and FBI won’t touch a case unless there are (several thousand) child porn images involved.”

Southern comfort: No fewer than 50 Los Angeles police officers, led by Chief Charlie Beck, showed up at San Francisco City Hall on Monday for the swearing-in of Police Chief William Scott. He had a lot of friends in L.A. from his time as deputy chief, and acquired a reputation for keeping his cool.

That was never more on display than when he arrived for his San Francisco job interview with members of the Police Commission. Just as he walked in, he got a call from L.A. about an officer-involved shooting.

“He handled it calmly and deliberately,” said one commissioner, speaking on condition of anonymity because the panel’s process was not public. “Then he did the interview and then, when we were done, called back for an update. All in the same calm and steady way.”

The same calm prevailed in his acceptance speech Monday at City Hall, where Scott never broke stride as he was repeatedly interrupted by demonstrators trying to shout him down.

The large contingent of cops from the Southland, however, did prompt some to wonder if Scott’s time here could be a launching pad for the L.A. chief’s job when Beck retires in three years.

“None of that — they’re just friends,” Scott said.

By the way, Scott isn’t wasting any time getting organized. On Tuesday, he said former acting Chief Toney Chaplin and Deputy Chief Hector Sainez — both key players in the police reform efforts — will be staying on as his two deputy chiefs.

Snap-back: A former student’s Snapchat shot of a young woman wearing a headscarf with an emoji of a bomb in her hand and the caption “Allah Akbar” prompted the University of San Francisco law school to schedule a community discussion on sensitivity Thursday night.

Under the school’s nonacademic student code, the image “is considered an ‘act of intolerance,’” USF law school officials said in an email to students. They said it had been brought to their attention by a group of students who considered it a negative depiction of Muslims and asked USF to respond.

Even though the former student — identified only as Rachel — has graduated and moved out of state, the USF law school dean’s office contacted her. And in short order, she issued a letter of apology, stating her “heartfelt disappointment” in herself and “remorse” for her actions.

In the letter, Rachel said she had posted the image “for four seconds.” When a friend alerted her of the “harm she could possibly cause,” she wrote, she tried to take it down — only to discover that a screenshot of the image had already been reposted on Facebook.

“I was blocked from the user(s) who posted the photo and I was unable to promptly issue a clarifying response and apology,” Rachel wrote.

The law school said Thursday night’s forum would be a chance for people to “share reflections” on how the image affected them. In the email, administrators told students that if they witness an act of intolerance, “please file a report.”

Law school Dean John Trasviña told us that the episode is “a reminder and learning opportunity that social media posts, no matter how brief, have a life of their own.”

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross