Stockholders Equity - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)		0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended				3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	May 09, 2013	Apr. 08, 2013 Dividend Declared	Apr. 30, 2013 Special Dividend	Apr. 30, 2013 Maximum Special Dividend	Sep. 30, 2014 Stock options	Sep. 30, 2014 Stock options General and Administrative Expense	Sep. 30, 2013 Stock options General and Administrative Expense	Sep. 30, 2014 Stock options General and Administrative Expense	Sep. 30, 2013 Stock options General and Administrative Expense	Sep. 30, 2014 Restricted stock based compensation	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation	Sep. 30, 2014 Restricted stock based compensation	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation	Sep. 30, 2014 Restricted stock based compensation Officers And Executive Officers	Sep. 30, 2014 Restricted stock based compensation Other Employees	Sep. 30, 2014 Restricted stock based compensation General and Administrative Expense	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation General and Administrative Expense	Sep. 30, 2014 Restricted stock based compensation General and Administrative Expense	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation General and Administrative Expense	Sep. 30, 2014 Restricted stock based compensation Operating Expense	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation Operating Expense	Sep. 30, 2014 Restricted stock based compensation Operating Expense	Sep. 30, 2013 Restricted stock based compensation Operating Expense
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Compensation Cost [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						400,000	700,000	1,500,000	2,400,000
Common stock options outstanding					2,200,000
Weighted average exercise price of common stock outstanding					$ 19.86
Restricted common stock and common stock units and stock options issued by CCA to certain of its employees												548,000	423,000					478,000	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												17,800,000	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										$ 3,100,000	$ 2,600,000	$ 9,000,000	$ 7,300,000			$ 2,700,000	$ 2,300,000	$ 7,900,000	$ 6,400,000	$ 400,000	$ 300,000	$ 1,100,000	$ 900,000
Restricted common stock and common stock units remained outstanding and subject to vesting										1,000,000		1,000,000