Stockholders Equity - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	May 09, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013 Ordinary Income	Dec. 31, 2013 Return of Capital	Dec. 31, 2013 2008 Stock Incentive Plan	Dec. 31, 2011 2008 Stock Incentive Plan	Dec. 31, 2013 Non-Employee Directors' Compensation Plan	Dec. 31, 2003 Non-Employee Directors' Compensation Plan	Apr. 08, 2013 Dividend Declared	May 20, 2013 Special Dividend	Apr. 30, 2013 Special Dividend	Dec. 31, 2013 Stock Option	Dec. 31, 2013 Minimum Stock Option	Apr. 30, 2013 Maximum Dividend Declared	Dec. 31, 2013 Maximum Stock Option	May 20, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation	Dec. 31, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted stock based compensation	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted stock based compensation	Dec. 31, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation Officers And Executive Officers	Dec. 31, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation Other Employees	May 20, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation Employees And Non Employee Directors	Dec. 31, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation Operating Expense	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted stock based compensation Operating Expense	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted stock based compensation Operating Expense	Dec. 31, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation General and Administrative Expense	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted stock based compensation General and Administrative Expense	Dec. 31, 2011 Restricted stock based compensation General and Administrative Expense	May 20, 2013 Restricted Stock And Units	May 20, 2013 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)	Dec. 31, 2013 Stock options Person	Dec. 31, 2013 Stock options General and Administrative Expense	Dec. 31, 2012 Stock options General and Administrative Expense	Dec. 31, 2011 Stock options General and Administrative Expense
Employee Service Share-based Compensation, Allocation of Recognized Period Costs [Line Items]
Dividend declared											$ 675,000,000
Dividend declared per share					$ 6.647357	$ 0.012643					$ 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																			423,000	349,000				139,000	45,000	59,000		378,000	290,000
Fair value of restricted common stock and common stock units and stock options issued by CCA to certain of its employees																			15,600,000	9,200,000
Special dividend on common stock																		2,800,000													6,100,000	3,300,000
Vesting period															3 years		4 years					3 years
Performance criteria, cumulative period																						3 years
Percent of awards eligible to vest																						33.33%
Vesting period, continuous service requirement																							3 years
Unrecognized compensation cost														2,600,000					13,100,000
Remaining period for recognizing the unrecognized compensation cost, in years														1 year 6 months					1 year 10 months 24 days
Allocated share-based compensation expense																			9,800,000	7,600,000	6,100,000				1,200,000	1,200,000	1,100,000	8,600,000	6,400,000	5,000,000
Total fair value of restricted common stock and common stock units that vested																			10,500,000	5,400,000	6,100,000
Preferred stock, shares authorized	50,000,000	50,000,000
Preferred stock, shares par value	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Term of options														10 years
Expense net of estimated forfeitures, relating to common stock options																																		3,100,000	4,700,000	4,200,000
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
Total intrinsic value of options exercised	$ 36,900,000	$ 5,500,000	$ 4,500,000
Weighted average fair value of options granted per option		$ 7.50	$ 9.66
Number of shares authorized for issuance of awards								18,000,000		225,000
Number of shares available for issuance							12,300,000		200,000