Schedule of Selected Quarterly Financial Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended									12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014		Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 447,835	$ 459,957	$ 459,295	$ 426,000	$ 423,477		$ 408,474	$ 410,694	$ 404,222	$ 1,793,087	$ 1,646,867	$ 1,694,297
OPERATING INCOME	66,539	65,436	79,753	68,826	41,845	[1]	69,850	65,535	63,066	280,554	240,296	251,151
Net income	$ 48,598	$ 50,676	$ 65,303	$ 57,277	$ 30,006	[1]	$ 57,546	$ 55,732	$ 51,738	$ 221,854	$ 195,022	$ 300,835
Basic earnings per share: Net income	$ 0.41	$ 0.43	$ 0.56	$ 0.49	$ 0.26	[1]	$ 0.50	$ 0.48	$ 0.45	$ 1.90	$ 1.68	$ 2.74
Diluted earnings per share: Net income	$ 0.41	$ 0.43	$ 0.55	$ 0.49	$ 0.25	[1]	$ 0.49	$ 0.48	$ 0.44	$ 1.88	$ 1.66	$ 2.70

[1] The earnings amounts in the fourth quarter of 2014 were unfavorably impacted by $27.8 million of non-cash impairments recorded to write down the book values of two of CCA's non-core facilities to the estimated fair values, as discussed in Note 5.