Commitments and Contingencies (Details Textual) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($) facility bed	Sep. 30, 2012 AUD	Mar. 31, 2012 bed	Aug. 29, 2011 USD ($)	Aug. 22, 2011 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility [Member] bed	Apr. 19, 2012 East Mississippi Correctional Facility [Member] bed	Aug. 13, 2012 Marshall County Correctional Facility [Member] bed
Commitments and Contingencies (Textual) [Abstract]
Verdict against the company in wrongful death action	$ 6.5
Court entered judgment against Company					8.4
Amount of bond litigation				10.0
Amount of liability responsible for wrongful death action	3.0
Claims against the company related to property damages including interest	18.7	18.0
Estimated construction capital project cost	60.7
Cost already spent on existing capital projects	19.2
Remaining capital required for capital projects	41.5
Capital expenditure related to facility maintenance cost minimum range	30.0
Capital expenditure related to facility maintenance cost maximum range	35.0
Number of beds under terminated contract			130
Number of beds discontinued						1,450	1,500	1,000
Number of vacant beds at its idle facilities	6,000	6,000
number of marketed idle facilities	7	7
Carrying values of idle facilities	$ 241.6