Debt (Nonrecourse Debt) (Details)	12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($) Bed	Jan. 01, 2012 USD ($)	Jan. 03, 2010 Bed	Aug. 31, 2012	Aug. 30, 2012	Aug. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2013 Municipal Corrections Finance L.P. USD ($) facility	Aug. 31, 2012 Municipal Corrections Finance L.P.	Apr. 24, 2012 Municipal Corrections Finance L.P.	Dec. 31, 2013 MCFs Non Recourse Debt USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2012 MCFs Non Recourse Debt USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt AUD	Dec. 31, 2012 Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Australian Subsidiary's Non Recourse Debt AUD	Dec. 31, 2013 Taxable Revenue Bonds STLDC USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Taxable Revenue Bonds STLDC USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Subordinate Notes STLDC USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Non Recourse Debt Northwest Detention Center USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Non Recourse Debt Northwest Detention Center USD ($)	Dec. 09, 2011 Non Recourse Debt 2011 Revenue Bonds USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 MCFs Non Recourse Debt
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of bed in detention Complex		1,904
Debt instrument, face amount																		$ 49,500,000			$ 57,000,000
Outstanding balance	1,590,534,000																	17,200,000
Proceeds from funds held in trust																	17,300,000
Bonds fixed coupon rates minimum																	4.63%			4.10%
Bonds fixed coupon rates maximum																	5.07%
Subordinated notes receivable																			5,000,000
Revised number of beds				1,575
Number of beds				1,030
Long term debt	1,485,536,000	1,317,529,000																				54,400,000
Stated interest rate							8.47%															6.40%	8.47%
Non-recourse debt												77,900,000	23,900,000	26,900,000	34,800,000	33,600,000				61,200,000
Current portion of non-recourse debt																				11,800,000
Current restricted cash																				11,500,000
Number of Facilities Purchased From Cornell								11
Ownership percentage					100.00%	0.00%			100.00%	100.00%
Acquisition of ownership interests	0	35,154,000	0					35,200,000
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	(20,657,000)	(8,462,000)	0								(8,500,000)						1,500,000
Payment of make-whole provision and other fees for early extinguishment of debt											14,900,000
Bond Redemption Costs											100,000
Fair value premium on non-recourse											6,400,000
Interest rate terms													variable rate quoted by certain Australian banks plus 140 basis points	variable rate quoted by certain Australian banks plus 140 basis points
Non current restricted cash													$ 5,100,000	5,000,000