Stockholders Equity - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)		1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended
	May 09, 2013	Apr. 30, 2013 Special Dividend	Apr. 08, 2013 Dividend Declared	Apr. 30, 2013 Maximum Special Dividend	Mar. 31, 2014 Stock options	Mar. 31, 2014 Stock options General and Administrative Expense	Mar. 31, 2013 Stock options General and Administrative Expense	Mar. 31, 2014 Restricted stock based compensation	Mar. 31, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation	Mar. 31, 2014 Restricted stock based compensation Officers And Executive Officers	Mar. 31, 2014 Restricted stock based compensation Other Employees	Mar. 31, 2014 Restricted stock based compensation General and Administrative Expense	Mar. 31, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation General and Administrative Expense	Mar. 31, 2014 Restricted stock based compensation Operating Expense	Mar. 31, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation Operating Expense
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
Closing price of common stock	$ 38.90
Expense net of estimated forfeitures, relating to common stock options						600,000	1,000,000
Common stock options outstanding					2,300,000
Weighted average exercise price of common stock outstanding					$ 19.80
Restricted common stock and common stock units and stock options issued by CCA to certain of its employees								523,000	423,000			453,000	378,000	70,000	45,000
Fair value of restricted common stock and common stock units and stock options issued by CCA to certain of its employees								16,900,000	15,600,000
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								$ 2,700,000	$ 2,200,000			$ 2,400,000	$ 1,900,000	$ 300,000	$ 300,000
Restricted common stock and common stock units remained outstanding and subject to vesting								1,000,000