Stockholders Equity - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended			24 Months Ended		48 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2011	May 31, 2011	Feb. 28, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2011 Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2011 Restricted Stock	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2012 Stock options	Sep. 30, 2011 Stock options	Sep. 30, 2012 Stock options	Sep. 30, 2011 Stock options	Dec. 31, 2011 Stock options	Sep. 30, 2012 General and Administrative Expense Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2011 General and Administrative Expense Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2012 General and Administrative Expense Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2011 General and Administrative Expense Restricted Stock	Dec. 31, 2011 General and Administrative Expense Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2012 Operating Expense Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2011 Operating Expense Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2012 Operating Expense Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2011 Operating Expense Restricted Stock	Dec. 31, 2011 Operating Expense Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2012 Officers And Executive Officers Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Employees Restricted Stock	Sep. 30, 2012 Executive Officer Stock options	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Officers Stock options	Dec. 31, 2011 Non Employee Directors General and Administrative Expense Restricted Stock
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	10,700,000	28,400,000
Common stock repurchased by CCA				383.2	125.0	508.2
Common stock repurchased by CCA, average price per share				$ 21.63	$ 11.72	$ 17.91
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							2.0	1.6	5.6	4.6							1.7	1.3	4.8	3.7		0.3	0.3	0.8	0.9
Restricted common stock and common stock units remained outstanding and subject to vesting							780,000		780,000
Weighted average exercise price of common stock shares issued to directors, officers and executive officers														$ 26.26		$ 24.45
Expense net of estimated forfeitures, relating to common stock options												$ 1.2	$ 1.0	$ 3.5	$ 3.2
Common stock options outstanding												4,100,000		4,100,000
Weighted average exercise price of common stock outstanding												$ 20.46		$ 20.46