Stockholders Equity - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)		1 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2013 Dividend Declared	May 20, 2013 Special Dividend	Apr. 30, 2013 Special Dividend	Jun. 30, 2013 Special Dividend	Apr. 30, 2013 Maximum Dividend Declared	May 20, 2013 Restricted stock	Jun. 30, 2013 Restricted stock	Jun. 30, 2012 Restricted stock	Jun. 30, 2013 Restricted stock	Jun. 30, 2012 Restricted stock	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted stock	Jun. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Officers And Executive Officers	Jun. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Other Employees	May 20, 2013 Restricted stock Employees And Non Employee Directors	Jun. 30, 2013 Restricted stock General and Administrative Expense	Jun. 30, 2012 Restricted stock General and Administrative Expense	Jun. 30, 2013 Restricted stock General and Administrative Expense	Jun. 30, 2012 Restricted stock General and Administrative Expense	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted stock General and Administrative Expense	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted stock General and Administrative Expense Non Employee Directors	Jun. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Operating Expense	Jun. 30, 2012 Restricted stock Operating Expense	Jun. 30, 2013 Restricted stock Operating Expense	Jun. 30, 2012 Restricted stock Operating Expense	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted stock Operating Expense	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock options	Jun. 30, 2012 Stock options	Jun. 30, 2013 Stock options Person	Jun. 30, 2012 Stock options	May 20, 2013 Restricted Stock And Units	May 20, 2013 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
Employee Service Share-based Compensation, Allocation of Recognized Period Costs [Line Items]
Dividend declared		$ 675,000,000
Dividend declared per share		$ 6.66
Dividend declared payment date		May 20, 2013
Dividend declared record date		Apr. 19, 2013
Dividend declared, maximum percentage of cash dividend						20.00%
Dividend declared, cash						135,000,000
Number of shares of CCA common stock distributed pursuant to the special dividend			13,900,000	13,900,000
Closing price of common stock	$ 38.90
Restricted common stock and common stock units and stock options issued by CCA to certain of its employees										415,000					139,000			369,000		290,000	349,000			46,000		59,000
Fair value of restricted common stock and common stock units and stock options issued by CCA to certain of its employees										15,300,000		9,200,000
Special dividend on common stock							2,800,000																								6,100,000	3,300,000
Vesting period													3 years
Performance criteria, cumulative period													3 years
Percent of awards eligible to vest													33.33%
Vesting period, continuous service requirement														3 years
Allocated share-based compensation expense								2,500,000	2,000,000	4,700,000	3,600,000					2,200,000	1,700,000	4,100,000	3,100,000			300,000	300,000	600,000	500,000
Restricted common stock and common stock units remained outstanding and subject to vesting					124,000			949,000		949,000
Expense net of estimated forfeitures, relating to common stock options																											$ 700,000	$ 1,300,000	$ 1,700,000	$ 2,300,000
Adjustment factor that resulted in the increase of number of share																													1.175
Number of employees and non-employee directors affected by the adjustment factor																													49
Incremental Options awarded as a result of the adjustment factor																													500,000
Common stock options outstanding																											3,200,000		3,200,000
Weighted average exercise price of common stock outstanding																											$ 18.50		$ 18.50