For the fifth time in two months, the U.S. Supreme Court used an unsigned order to block California’s pandemic-related restrictions on religious activities and, some scholars contend, to anonymously make new law.

Unsigned orders, or “per curiam” decisions, were once more often used for routine, non-controversial court matters, according to court historians. But increasingly they have been used during the tenure of Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. for substantive, often divisive rulings.