Stockholders' Equity (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended			23 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2011	May 31, 2011	Feb. 28, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011	Mar. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012 Restricted Stock [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Restricted Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted Stock [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Stock Options [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Stock Options [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Stock Options [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 General And Administrative Expense [Member] Restricted Stock [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 General And Administrative Expense [Member] Restricted Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 General And Administrative Expense [Member] Restricted Stock [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Operating Expense [Member] Restricted Stock [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Operating Expense [Member] Restricted Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Operating Expense [Member] Restricted Stock [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Officers And Executive Officers [Member] Restricted Stock [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Other Employees [Member] Restricted Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Non-Employee Directors [Member] General And Administrative Expense [Member] Restricted Stock [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Executive Officers [Member] Stock Options [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Other Officers [Member] Stock Options [Member]
Employee Service Share-based Compensation, Allocation of Recognized Period Costs [Line Items]
Approval of share repurchase program of CCA's common stock by company's Board of Directors	$ 500.0	$ 350.0	$ 250.0
Increased aggregate value of shares authorized for repurchase under share repurchase program		100.0
Common stock repurchased by CCA, shares				17,700,000
Common stock repurchased by CCA				383.2
Common stock repurchased by CCA, average price per share				$ 21.63
Restricted common stock and common stock units and stock options issued by CCA to certain of its employees						346,000			706,000		575,000	287,000		227,000	59,000		38,000			265,000
Fair value of restricted common stock and common stock units and stock options issued by CCA to certain of its employees						9.1		6.5	5.3		5.6
Vesting period																		3 years			3 years	4 years
Performance criteria, cumulative period																		3 years
Percent of awards eligible to vest																		0.33%			0.33%	0.25%
Vesting period, continuous service requirement																			3 years
Allocated share-based compensation expense						1.6	1.5					1.4	1.2		0.2	0.3
Restricted common stock and common stock units outstanding subject to vesting					810,000
Expense net of forfeitures, relating to common stock options									$ 1.1	$ 1.2
Weighted average exercise price of common stock shares issued to directors, officers and executive officers									$ 26.26		$ 24.45
Common stock options outstanding									4,200,000
Weighted average exercise price of common stock outstanding									$ 20.36